Archdiocese Facebook Offers Live ‘Praying for You’

Renee asked for prayers “For peace and togetherness with families.”

A response came quickly: “Prayers for you, for your family and for the unity of all families. May the Holy Family continue to be a model of love, care and unity for all of our families. God Bless.”

Holly wanted prayers “For those serving our country at home and overseas.”

“Dear Holly, we join you in praying for the men and women who protect us. May God watch over our military. We pray for peace everywhere,” the response said.

Many Catholics have heard prayer requests like these, but the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is harnessing its Facebook page to offer an immediate prayer in response to requests made at a special time and place.

“Praying for You” is offered as a live post from 7 to 7:30 p.m. every Monday.

Prayer requests made across that time as comments to the “Praying for You” post are answered live by representatives of different Catholic groups that take part in “Praying for You” every Monday for a month.

A representative of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) replied to prayer requests in June, and the School Sisters of St. Francis are replying in July.

For four Monday evenings in May, Sr. Marcia Vinjee from the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary in Waukesha received the prayer requests.

According to Sr. Marcia, the archdiocese contacted her community, and her superior thought it would be something she would like to do since she is semiretired and has a bit more time than the other sisters.

Sr. Marcia jumped at the opportunity.

“I loved the idea of praying for people’s needs. Our community always has a list of people to pray for, and my mother was a Widow of Prayer,” she said. “I saw the impact prayers had and how grateful people were to know that someone was concerned about their needs.”

The experience of praying for the needs of others touched Sr. Marcia personally, and she felt the Holy Spirit using her to say just the right thing a person needed to hear.

“Every answer was different because each petition was unique. After the half-hour of prayer, I added all these petitions to a notebook that our sisters use during our times of adoration, praying for the needs of many,” she said, adding, “To my surprise, several friends from 30 years ago sent in petitions. It was a joy to connect with them again.”

Her favorite prayer request was one she heard often, and it was for safe travel to visit grandchildren.

“A few people sent in the same request each week, and I was touched at their faithfulness to the ones they were praying for,” said Sr. Marcia.

While no one has yet reached out to Sr. Marcia personally about answered prayers from the Facebook ministry, there are several comments from Facebook users thanking her and others for answered prayers.

“I am happy to pray for these people, and I would definitely do this ministry again,” she said.

The number of participants has grown since May, prompting Sr. Marcia and archdiocese Communication Coordinator Heidi Heistad to recognize the importance of this ministry within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and beyond.

“I also think that there are so many older folks or those confined to home that would be happy to pray for others if they only knew what to pray for,” Sr. Marcia said. “It would give them a purpose and be a witness to the reality of the Mystical Body of Christ; whatever I do truly impacts every other person.”

The live response was built on Heistad’s idea to begin a weekly post in 2024 to encourage the faithful to pray for themselves and a stranger.

“There were so many comments filled with sorrow, pain and worry that I thought about developing it further. And so, it became clear that having a designated individual from a Catholic group to officially reply to each prayer intention in a customized way would amplify the experience.”

With the prevalence of AI and a lack of personal connection in the world, Heistad said it is meaningful and impactful to offer a real person, in real time, to respond beautifully and positively to concerns and pain.

Specific people from various Catholic organizations respond immediately to prayer requests made to “Praying for You,” an Archdiocese of Milwaukee ministry featured on its Facebook page live for 30 minutes every week. (Submitted photo)