Due to some schedule changes, my Adoration hour was switched beginning this week, and it has already brought me a new reminder of the importance of intercessory prayer.
As I drove toward the church this morning, I recognized the car in front of me. The driver attends the Saturday-evening vigil Mass and always sits near the board indicating the hymnal numbers for that weekend’s music. When I sing on Saturdays and take care of changing the numbers, she always greets me and asks me to pray for her niece, who is suffering terribly with stage IV cancer.
Each week when this woman sees me, she thanks me for praying. One time, she told me that on her way to work in the mornings, she stops by the church to pray in front of the statue of the Blessed Mother that faces the parking lot.
That’s what she did today after turning her car into the church driveway. So I parked my car, gathered my things, and walked toward hers. She saw me and waved. I signaled that I was heading in to Adoration and would pray, then waved and went on my way to the chapel.
When you’re going through difficult times, knowing that you’re part of a praying community is a great comfort. When you don’t have the words to pray, you can be sure that someone else is praying those words for you. When all you can do is hold on to your Rosary, there is someone whispering the Hail Marys.
It’s good—and important—to pray for others in secret. But it’s also good and imporant to let them know that you’ve got their back and are interceding for them, or offering up a day’s work and struggles for their intention. So send a text, make a call, mail a note, or signal with a wave in the church parking lot that you’re helping someone else bear their burdens.
Copyright 2023 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Photos copyright 2023 Barb Szyszkiewicz, all rights reserved.
You have given me a bit of inspiration! My church only has Adoration once a week, and unfortunately I am not always able to make it; but it does have a beautiful Marian garden in the back that I can pop into to visit every day during my morning walk! Thank you so much!
That’s great! We had a lot of parishioners parking near our Mary statue during the pandemic when they couldn’t attend Mass or go to Adoration. And I think the habit has stuck. That statue gets a lot of traffic; even people walking by on their way in to Mass will stop a moment to pray there. I’m glad this article helped you think about places to pray at your parish church.