Please pray for me

I usually perceive general requests for prayer, “Please pray for me,” as an indication that the person asking has some specific need they’ve yet to articulate, perhaps it’s an illness, maybe a fear, a potential danger, or a challenge---like an athletic event or an exam.

It’s like the little boy who was misbehaving in church. Finally the little tyke’s dad has had enough of the son’s shenanigans, so Dad picks him up, puts him on his shoulder and proceeds to carry the disobedient lad outside for some good ol’ fashioned discipline.  As everyone turns to watch them exit, the little boy pleads with the audience, “Please pray for me.”

The little guy has a specific request he doesn’t have the time to detail.

So, what are we to make of Pope Francis request on his recent historic visit to the United States for people to pray for him?

It happened on at least three occasions.

While moving through the crowds outside the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C., the Pope shook hands with Fr. Scott Pilarz, who exclaimed that he was a Jesuit at Georgetown Prep. Pope Francis stopped, smiled and appealed to Fr. Pilarz, "Pray for me."

What’s interesting is the dialog that followed.

Fr. Pilarz replied, “I will.”

The Pope’s response underscored the fact that he wasn’t being flippant or superficially religious: “Really,” the Pope emphasized, “don’t forget it.”

“I promise,” Pilarz said. (What else would you say to the Pope?)

“I need it,” the Pope emphasized.

“I promise, every day,” Fr. Pilarz pledged.

The next day, while standing with political leaders, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice-President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Pope Francis again made the request: “I ask you all: please pray for me.”

After Boehner shocked the political world the next day by resigning as Speaker of the House, the first question asked during his news conference was, “Did the grace of Pope Francis lead to this decision?”

It’s an interesting question. Boehner is a devout Roman Catholic and was moved to tears the day before when the Pope addressed Congress. But the most emotional moment for an openly emotional Boehner wasn’t recorded on camera. When Boehner and Pope Francis were getting ready to exit the building, they momentarily they found themselves alone.

The Pope complimented the House Speaker for his commitment to children and education. Then Pope Francis put his hand on Boehner’s shoulder, kind of pulled him closer and earnestly pleaded with Boehner, “Please pray for me.”

As Boehner told this story, he openly admitted, “Who am I to pray for the Pope?” And then quickly added, “But I did.”

Later, the Pope spoke to students at Our Lady Queen of Angels School in Harlem. He concluded by giving them an assignment: “Pray for me,” he said. And as he left, he reminded them, “Don’t forget your homework.”

I know of religious leaders who resist the thought of asking anyone, especially their congregants, to pray for them. Asking for prayer is to reveal a weakness, some think. It might reveal a chink in the clergy’s spiritual armor.

Imagine that, spiritual leaders having to admit they are actually human.

Others shy away because they aren’t sure how someone will pray for them. In a turn on Boehner’s question, “Who am I to pray for the Pope,” some clergy would ask, “Who are you (laity) to pray for me (clergy)?”

Asking laypeople to pray for them is a risky business, some some spiritual leaders fear. What if the congregants pray that their leaders become more holy or compassionate? What if they pray for their leaders to lead? Or preach shorter more meaningful sermons? And what happens when other people hear such prayers?

What I sense in the Pope’s prayer request is a deep sense of humility, the virtue that characterizes so much of his papacy. He is transparent, revealing that he is is acutely aware of the enormity of his task and the limitations of his capabilities.

And I’m sure behind the general request, “Please pray for me,” are specific concerns too numerous to speculate.

The Pope is not alone in his openness to ask for prayer.

The Apostle Paul requested pray. “Pray for me,” he urged his readers in his letter to the Ephesians: “Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike” (Ephesians 6:19).

And to the Church in Rome he wrote, “Join in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30).

And Jesus himself, in the Garden of Gethsemane, wasn’t above asking his disciples to support him by staying awake and praying during his moment of agony: “Couldn’t you watch with me even for one hour?” (Matthew 26:40).

When someone recently asked Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and Catholic historian, Garry Wills, why the Pope appears more popular with non-Catholics than with many Catholics, he replied, “Maybe it’s because he reminds some people of Jesus.”

Even if we don’t get it exactly right or fall asleep trying, we can at least in a spirit of humility like Pope Francis, admit our own need for others’ prayers and pray for each other…clergy and laity alike.

When we do, we find ourselves in the best of company.

Practicing the finest of virtues.