Who do we pray for on a daily basis? Who do we ask to pray for us? What is our first response when we are asked to pray for someone in need?
And how would St. Joseph have responded as a model of charity towards others?
Archbishop M. de Langalerie writes, St. Joseph did not deny his love to anyone. “Wherever Providence placed him, all displayed indifferent towards him on account of his poverty; but he in return regarded them with affection, and desired their salvation.” (p 80 from “The Month of St. Joseph) In other words he was a man of prayer setting his heart in prayer to all people, both friend and enemy alike.

I have been thinking about prayer and who we pray for as I am finishing a different book of meditations during my Holy Hour earlier this week. In it Blessed Concepción Cabrera de Armida where in one of her conversations with Jesus, she was a mystic, she began to list all the people she wished to bring to Jesus in prayer. What struck me wasn’t that she was doing this but that many of the prayers were very minor, simple requests, not earth shattering or grandiose, rather the prayers I often bring to God for family, friend, Church and yes enemy.
In the year of St. Joseph I placed this prayer in front of Joseph and thought about how he, our Blessed Mother and the child Jesus prayed daily. What did that look like?
I doubt that much has changed around the family table and at times of family prayer. Certainly the Holy Family was a family of prayer. They would have prayed the Jewish ritual prayers and other devotions honoring God. I am also fairly positive they would also have brought prayers of family, friends (and yes enemies) to the there daily prayers and conversations with each other and with God.
The point is, that nothing is too small nor too large to pray for and seek to reconcile in our hearts allowing the world to find the healing within the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We are reminded once more of how St. Joseph lived the Gospel message of Jesus before it was preached in word because he physically embraced the Living Word each day of his married life. “The Gospel, moreover, commands us not only to forgive our enemies and pray for them, but also to love them. This precept is violated by a great number of Christians. We demonstrate a cold reserve and resentment towards those who have offended or injured us; yet each day we say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”” (p 80) Our prayers should not only be towards those we love but more importantly towards those who disagree with us and even persecute us in our Christian life.
Why would we do this? Jesus commands us to do this. It is for the salvation of the souls of those who seek to harm the Body of Christ but also for us who are the Body of Christ. Did Jesus, Mary and Joseph spend daily time in prayer praying for the Roman oppressors, Herod and his murderous regime and the religious leaders who seemed to bend their faith to “get along” with those who held power in the world of ancient Israel?
Each day, dozens of people ask me to pray for them or an intention they hold dear to them and yes many times these prayers include those of injury or for political and religious leaders. Following “St. Joseph as a Model of Charity towards Our Neighbor” (p 79) we are asked to step beyond and place ourselves within the prayer life of the Holy Family joining our prayers with them for the salvation of our souls and the salvation of the world.
Please pray for me…I am praying for you.
God Bless
Fr. Mark