I hear a siren outside...it's time to pray...

A siren. Something might be wrong. "Dear Mary, someone might be in trouble. Please pray for them, and for those who are off to help them."

It takes next to no time to ask for these prayers. And yet the power of them is something I'm humbly aware of.

I'm driving past a cemetery. It's time to pray. "Lord, have mercy on them...and on me."

A nanosecond and yet how powerful...who knows what soul will be freed from the bondage of Purgatory and welcomed into His Holy Arms? (And let's not forget: I asked for mercy on myself as well.)

I'm walking, sure-footed, and see many people. There's an old man in a scooter. A young woman on crutches. An elderly lady in a wheel chair. A laughing young lady, obviously pregnant, wheeling a carriage with an infant in it and dragging along a toddler.

Yes, indeed. It's time to pray.

As I walk home I see a policeman, lights whirling in his car, approaching another motorist. A speeder? Something worse?

No matter. It's time to pray.

The thing is, our gracious Lord gives us ample opportunities to pray for one another. Not just "hints" but scenes that scream out "for the Lord's sake please pray for me!"

And I'm grateful for them. Because every time I offer up a prayer for someone else I'm also offering a prayer for myself. After all, prayer is conversation with the Almighty and Who else but the Great Conversationalist Himself will ignore me? Or ignore you?

And so, right now, you  might be reading this, intent on feeding your child, kissing your spouse, calling your mom, waving to your neighbor...it doesn't matter.

Because right here and right now? It's time to pray.