Morning Commute Prayers: A Handy Little Way to Pray

Barb Szyszkiewicz interviews Catholic TV producer Bonnie Rodgers about her everyday prayer practice - and why she made it public.

When it comes to intercessory prayer, I like to think that God's motto is "No job too small." We teach our children to go to God with big things and little things, but as we grow up, we sometimes pray as if only the big things are worthy of God's attention.

I began paying extra attention to the way people talk about prayer when I started writing The Handy Little Guide to Prayer for Our Sunday Visitor. As I wrote this booklet during the pandemic, when I wasn't seeing too many people who didn't live with me, I turned my focus to the ways prayer was mentioned on social media. I'd already been following Catholic TV producer Bonnie Rodgers on Twitter, and her daily custom of a #morningcommuteprayer was a fascinating call to prayer for big and small intentions alike.

Intercessory prayer is a type of prayer in which we ask God to bless others in specific ways. In my booklet, I mention using moments or transitions in your day as prayer cues. Bonnie's Morning Commute Prayers are the perfect example of this practice.

Our intercessory prayers – whether during the workday or the Liturgy – are our way of expanding our community. #catholicmom

I interviewed Bonnie, the producer of CatholicTV's signature talk show, This Is the Day (Bonnie also works in Business Development and Expansion for the station) about this prayer practice and why she shares it on social media.

When did you start posting your Morning Commute Prayer intentions on Twitter? 

My Catholic experiences included making the sign of the cross at cemeteries, ambulances and all emergency vehicles, accident scenes, passing a church (obvi!) so being aware of everyday situations that required Divine Intervention was almost rote for me. But almost two years ago now when I was driving into work with the car windows open on an amazingly beautiful New England spring day I saw an early-teen boy being taunted at a bus stop. He was carrying something and kids seemed to be teasing him about it. I am a super busybody and really wanted to jump out of the car to intervene but realized that it could potentially cause more problems for the teen (can you imagine the kids' reactions?) but I felt compelled to do something without exacerbating the situation and then it came to me that I could pray for him and even for the kiddos taunting him.  

Why do you share these on social media? 

I made the decision to put my commute prayer on Twitter because teasing and taunting take place everywhere and quite frankly amplifying my prayer for that teen seemed necessary. I kept thinking of how it was such a beautiful day and his day was off to a horrendous start. 

Do you choose these intentions ahead of time or do you pray as you go? 

Normally I pray as I go, but there have been times when someone has DM’d asking for a prayer intention or when an anniversary of some kind comes up. During COVID I did a lot of neighborhood walking and was seeing Marian statues, so for the month of May I started #ISpyMary. I really love how these public displays of devotion break into our lives when we least expect it. 

Is there a particular intention that has ever gone viral or attracted a great deal of attention?

This winter, a very pragmatic prayer for cleared accessible walkways (frozen snow piles and melted slush in the Northeast are a hazard) for those in wheelchairs, garnered the attention of an accessibility rights organization and some replies included personal experiences with slush. 

How does the Morning Commute Prayer connect you to others who pray? 

Oddly enough, I am a fairly private person but sharing my observations and requests for prayer has bolstered my awareness that our intercessory prayers – whether during the workday or the Liturgy – are our way of expanding our community. The “who is your neighbor?” question is played out daily in the digital landscape in so many wonderful ways.

Copyright 2021 Barb Szyszkiewicz
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