An interesting thing happened on the train...

I take the train to and from work each day and am on the train for about 30 minutes each way. On the way to work I normally read and on the way home I pray. I've been praying on the way home for about 6 months or so now because I have found that it's a good set amount of time that I can focus silently without interruption.

I pray a rosary, an additional decade of a rosary for the decade I am assigned in Universal Living Rosary Association (you can find out more about this at www.philomena.org), and a Divine Mercy Chaplet. (Anyone who doesn't know what any of these things are can feel free to ask and I'll gladly go into more detail.) The amount of time it takes to do all of those things is about 25 minutes, so it works out perfectly. When I do it, I do it pretty obviously--I'm making the sign of the cross at the start and end of each of the three things, I'm kissing my crucifix each time I make the sign of the cross, my rosary beads are clanging a little bit, I tend to move my mouth when pray (with no sound coming out).

All these months I've figured that I'm either serving as a good witness or people on the train will just think I'm some sort of loon. I'm happy with either impression I make, truthfully.

No one has ever commented to me, good or bad, about what I'm doing. No one, that is until I was taking the train home on Friday.

I was sitting near the window and at one stop an older woman who seemingly had just enjoyed a day out with a friend sat next to me (the friend sat in front of us). I prayed and she sat silently the whole way to my stop. When we reached my stop I turned to her and smiled and said, "Excuse me."

She stood up and said, "Thank you for praying, you've reminded me to."

Anyone who knows me knows that despite the very healthy level of self-confidence I have, I recoil at verbal praise. In all my "eloquence," I said, "Oh..." Luckily, she continued talking.

"I'm sure God must be very pleased." Even worse, because now she was daring to suppose what God might think about me, something that I don't even do!

"I can only hope so," I replied and smiled again.

"You're a wonderful witness to others. Have a blessed day" she said. I managed a kind "Thank you, you too," and got off the train.

It made me think. If I want to be a good witness, then I need to be willing to hear what people have to say in response to my witness, either good or bad. I'm not witnessing for myself, I am witnessing for the Lord. As a witness, I have to be willing to engage in conversation--whether weirdo me is comfortable for not.

Prayer requests for today: Once again, please pray for my mom's surgery tomorrow. Please pray that I can allow God to use me to be a more complete witness to those around in the real world. I am praying for all of the new babies my young adult catholic community has welcomed in recent weeks--3 of them! Please pray that these little ones will grow in their faith through the years and that their parents will have the strength and fortitude they need to raise holy children in a society where holiness is no longer valued.