‘Pray It Forward’
Every Wednesday for 15 minutes, a group of Boston College alumni, students, and others comes together online in communal prayer, a powerful midweek pause that participants have said has enriched their lives and strengthened their faith. A program of The Church in the 21st Century Center in partnership with the Boston College Alumni Association, Pray It Forward offers a welcoming space where the faithful can listen to and reflect on the Gospel, pray, and find comfort and connection with other believers.
Launched more than three years ago with only 25 participants, Pray It Forward has grown to a community of more than 1,500, with some 70 to 90 participants joining the session on any given week. It is open to everyone; no BC affiliation is required. Offered at 4 p.m. ET via Zoom, Pray It Forward draws people from throughout the United States and other countries, such as Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and Canada.
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“Pray It Forward is a beautiful ministry,” said C21 Center Director Karen Kiefer. “It’s something so simple yet it fills a need we have to nurture our own personal faith and be in community with others.
“We intentionally keep Pray It Forward to 15 minutes. But what happens in those 15 minutes is extraordinary,” she added.
Following the same format each week, Pray It Forward begins with an opening prayer, often inspired by a feast day or a season. Then a participant reads the Gospel and offers a reflection. “I’ve never heard a bad reflection,” said Kiefer. “You can’t take a Gospel reading and not get something from it.”
Next are the prayer intentions. Participants are invited to speak aloud or type in the chat, sharing hopes, concerns, grief, and gratitude. “These moments are sacred,” said Kiefer. “People trust us with intimate details of their lives. They know they’re being held in prayer.”
Organizers shared the story of a high school student who asked for prayers for her grandfather, a Boston College alumnus who was ill. After many weeks of prayers, the grandfather joined a Pray It Forward session where he expressed gratitude for the prayers that had sustained him.
In another instance, a Pray It Forward participant prayed weekly for his daughter to receive a kidney transplant. After two years, she received the transplant.
“We intentionally keep Pray It Forward to 15 minutes. But what happens in those 15 minutes is extraordinary."
Prayer intentions can also be offered on Pray It Forward’s virtual prayer wall. Submitted intentions—public or private—are shared at the weekly Pray It Forward gathering where they are lifted up in prayer by the community. Recent intentions on the prayer wall include prayer requests for a mother with a brain tumor, victims of domestic violence, a family grieving the loss of a father, and the reconciliation of two brothers.
Pray It Forward participants also use the C21 Center’s prayer ribbons, which are a familiar presence on campus, particularly during Espresso Your Faith Week. Participants can send ribbons to people as a tangible reminder that they are being prayed for by the Pray It Forward community.
One of the most dedicated Pray It Forward members is Margie Sherlock, who got to know Boston College when her nephew was an undergraduate. Each week for more than two years she wrote and shared closing prayers at the gathering. Her prayers were so beloved that the C21 Center published a collection of them in the volume Spirit of Love: Prayers for Hopeful Hearts. The book has been shared at BC alumni events and an online version is available through the Pray It Forward website.
“Prayer is transformative and highly contagious,” writes Sherlock in the book’s introduction. “The blessings, hope, and consolation of praying in community unites us with God and with each other.”
Like so many of the C21 Center’s offerings, Pray It Forward is designed to serve as a model and be replicated by other Catholic educational institutions, parishes, or other faith communities. The center’s website includes a guide on how to start a program.
“Pray It Forward shows that you can develop beautiful friendships and relationships with people when Jesus takes the wheel,” said Kiefer. “When God is in between all of us, things change.”
For more information, visit the Pray It Forward website.