Blessed are the bold in spirit for the Lord, for he will cause his face to shine upon those he sends our way.
This evening, as I made my way for the sunset mass with my wife and daughter, I had no intention of praying over anyone. My only focus was to go for the sacrament of reconciliation, even though I had gone the week before, because I had failed and I needed his grace to be whole again.
As I was waiting for the priest to come, I saw a brother in Christ’s mother walking past me with a walking stick. In my heart, I felt she was highlighted to me to pray for, and I would gladly do it once I was reconciled fully with God. Immediately after reconciliation, I sought her out and she was happy to see me because we have not seen one another for quite some time. I prayed over her and she was so happy after. I then made my way to my seat beside my family.
During mass, the Lord highlighted this young girl, no more than 13 or 14 years old. I could see she wore a brace under her blouse. I’ve seen her before when she was much younger; she was actually in crutches, but now she was walking on her own. The brace was very clear from her back, she must have had a twisted spine or was born that way. Suddenly I just felt a profound sadness to think that she had to struggle all her life in this condition. I prayed with all my heart to the Lord, saying, “Yes Lord, you are the Lord of the impossible. And if it is your will, you will heal her. So I pray that you release her from this bondage, her suffering at such a tender age.”
I thought to myself, did the Lord highlight her to me wanting me to pray for her? Was I worthy enough to pray for her and to be so bold as to pray for healing? I wasn’t clear. I just didn’t know why he highlighted her in that way to me. I wept internally for her, just thinking about what if she was my daughter. I spent the better half of the mass just lifting her up together with my mother, my mother-in-law, who are old, as well as for my ex-classmate from encounter school and a few others that came to mind at the Holy Eucharist.
My daughter noticed I was looking in that girl’s direction. She was sharing with me that she had a classmate who was wearing this same brace of sorts for more than seven years, but she’s finally rid of it. However, she was not completely healed, but at least she was now able to do things without wearing the brace any longer—so when mass ended, I was still looking her way. My daughter looked at me and said, “No, don’t do it.” She more or less knew that I had the intention of praying for her, but just didn’t know how to approach either her or her parents.
After mass, I waited at the foyer, but they didn’t come out. I told the Lord, “Well, if you want me to pray for her you will lead her my way.” Then, I left the church and made my way to the bus stop. We were waiting pretty long for the bus to come. Lo and behold, I saw the girl and her parents walking towards the bus stop. I thought to myself, do I have time? Do I have the courage to approach them? It didn’t take long for me to walk up to the father and introduce myself. I just asked him, “Hi, is this your daughter? May I know her name? And is it all right if I pray for her?” The father said, “Sure, go ahead.” “her name is Neve” I stood in front of the daughter touched her shoulder and started praying for her. She was so sweet. She was so very grateful and thanked me. after that, So did the father. I just smiled at them and quickly got up the bus which had arrived and my family had already got on.
As I sat down on the upper deck of the double-decker, I saw this old man whom I knew was a fellow parishioner. He was with a walking stick making his way up to the same deck on the bus, which impressed me because with a walking stick and that age, I myself would be hesitant to walk up the flight of stairs up.
As we reached the bus depot I noticed he made his way down first, I caught up with him and said, “Hey, where’s your wife?” They’ve always gone to church as a couple, but today the wife was missing. He told me that his wife Carol was sick. While we were still waiting to disembark, I said, “Is it all right if I pray for Carol and use you as a proxy?” I just held his shoulders and I prayed for Carol’s healing. He was so touched. We chatted for a while as we got off. He told me he’s already 80 years old, but he’s still working because it keeps his mind active and stable.
After that little conversation, as we parted our ways, I just thought to myself, how great is our God that He would allow someone like me to be His instrument of grace, even though I still feel so unworthy. So all glory be His, now and forever. Amen
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