Do I pray for someone who asked me not to do so?

[timothyjason]

I recently reunited with a long lost friend after twenty years. We’ve touched on the subject of religion (we were both Catholic when we knew each other). I’d fallen away but came back last year and my faith is the largest component of my life – I can’t stop thinking about God and my faith. My friend married a Wiccan, and has adopted many New Age philosophies. His two children are being catechized as Catholic at his insistence and to his wife’s chagrin, but the kids are developing faith in using crystals and all kinds of weird things. Because their mom has tactitly consented to their catechisis, I am hopeful, but something has to change!

I can see my friend will probably come back to his faith after some point, as I get indications that he is uncertain, not outright atheist. Obviously, I’m not going to push catechisis on him, as maybe his time has not come. At the end of the evening, he suggested that we don’t talk about religion anymore, which I agreed with. Our conversation on this topic concluded with his requesting “don’t pray for me.” I felt selfish for not thinking about praying for him on my own – it didn’t occur to me! But I asked him, if he didn’t believe in God or being Catholic, why would it matter to him. Suddenly, I wanted to pray for him, but out of respect for him, it doesn’t feel right. What do I do?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

St. Peter once said to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord” (Luke 5:8). Did our Lord abandon Peter, as per Peter’s explicitly stated wishes? Of course not. While I cannot recommend telling your friend that you will pray for him anyway in spite of his wishes, you are certainly free to pray for him on your own. And it sounds to me that, just as St. Peter needed our Lord all the more because of his sinfulness, so your friend desperately needs your prayers.