We always have the mission to pray

On Easter Vigil morning as I was waiting for the environment crew, I got a phone call from an old friend. I was very surprised to hear her voice. 

We discussed the Stories of Faith article featured in the April 2020 New Earth about our visit to the Church of All Nations in Jerusalem in 1996. It was led by composer David Haas and Scripture scholar Art Zannoni of the Twin Cities. My friend said she was touched by the rock at the center of the Church—the place where Jesus had prayed before being betrayed by Judas.
At the time of our conversation, we were about three weeks into COVID-19 quarantine. My 94-year-old friend said she didn’t mind the isolation. She was in good health and taking care of herself like always. She spent her time praying.

She revealed how her faith had grown over the years. Once in her church’s daily Mass chapel, she encountered Jesus, she says. There was a white shadow behind him. He said, “I am Jesus, you know.” The woman said, “Yes, I know.” She was marvelously enthralled. How could this happen to her?

Last December, she came upon a new statue of Mary in the same daily Mass chapel where she encountered Jesus. She was surprised. She had been in this chapel many times but had not noticed this depiction of Mary.

She tried to iterate how Jesus and Mary are not visions to her but pictures in her mind. Her mind is filled with pictures of the life of Mary and Jesus.

She said she particularly enjoys the image of Mary on Easter Sunday morning when she discovers that the tomb, where she lay her son only hours before, is empty. Imagine the panic of Mary. Imagine the sight of the gardener. Imagine when Mary realizes that the gardener is the risen Jesus.

Gazing upon the reality of that Easter morning, my friend said, “Our faces will look like that one day!” 

Right now my friend says her work is to savor her mind-pictures of Jesus and Mary and to prepare for her Easter morning in the Kingdom.

Her work is to pray for everyone, especially those sick with COVID-19. She says that Jesus told her many years ago to pray. And he keeps telling her that he has a mission for her—to pray and pray and pray.

“Well,” she says, “what does an old lady have to do in isolation? Just pray for all those who need a prayer as they prepare to shine on Easter morning in the Kingdom of God.”