Furthermore…

Last night I was at a prayer meeting, and one of the steps in these meetings is always for individuals to speak out petitions to the Lord.   A lot of the people, myself included,  had friends and family members suffering from health or other difficulties that we placed before the Lord. I only had one, so as others were naming theirs, I simultaneously sorted through my circumstances, wondering if there was still something else to mention.  The thought came to me that there are so many all-encompassing things to ask for that we, as lay people, just skip over and take for granted. Perhaps a priest or nun, more in touch with the Kingdom of God, might bring them to mind: shower us with more grace, strengthen our resolve to do Your will, soften the hearts of the greedy and powerful, dispel the widespread ignorance and misinformation about the Church.  There were some petitions along this line, of course, but I always have, when I hear such petitions, that they are sort of self-evident or assumed or bland, and so sweeping that even if they are granted they won’t impact us noticeably, as would the healing of Mama’s foot or Dad finally finding a job.