The hardest people that I encounter in my daily life that are hard for pray for aren’t people who’ve done horrible things. Murders, thieves, and other criminals, I figure they must have had a hard life in some way, whether it be in their childhood, some psychological issue or whatnot, that led their life on that path. They are guilty of a crime, no doubt, but I know they need my prayers and I offer them without restraint. (Of course, every so often there is a particularly horrible headline-grabbing offense that challenges me on this, but I digress.)

No, the hardest people for me to pray for are those in the customer service industry, in some form, and who do not follow through on their promises in whatever way. As you may know, I recently found myself in a position where I had to purchase a replacement vehicle and I found a nice little Nissan Versa that met my requirements in both feature and price.

Today, I wanted to take it in for its first oil change. I know that I don’t have to take it to the dealership, but I like the idea of a long-term provider-client relationship and so I default to them after purchasing a new car. Since I found myself in Wichita Falls, I wanted to take it to Nissan of Wichita Falls, the dealer.

Knowing it was the day after Christmas, I half-suspected they would be closed for the holiday since folks in Wichita Falls still operate on the slower pace not found anymore in cities like Houston or Austin. I drive into the lot and I find their service garage doors open! I’m excited as my master plan to get the car nicely washed, filled with gas and oil changed was falling into place. I drive in, turn off the car and am met by a service department director-looking person.

The individual asked me what I needed and I told him a simple oil change. He replied that he didn’t have anyone in the shop who could do an oil change and suggested that I return later.

I visit an establishment in the middle of the day that is open which provides car maintenance and repair services, one of the most basic of those services is the oil change and am told that no one in the shop can perform the service. I must wait for someone to arrive to work that can do the oil change.

For me and my sensibilities, I can’t understand this and I can’t figure out a series of events that would lead a business to be unable to deliver a most basic function of their business. For this reason alone, it merits my prayer for both them and for my own understanding, but it is the most difficult for me to bring in prayer.

Papal Basilica to Open Ecumenical Chapel
ROME, DEC. 21, 2007 (Zenit.org).- An ecumenical chapel at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls is one of the first initiatives of the upcoming Pauline year.
Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the papal basilica, announced plans for the chapel in an interview with L’Osservatore Romano.
The chapel will offer “the possibility for non-Catholic Christian communities to come and pray at the basilica and to celebrate liturgy,” he said. It will be placed in a Greek-design baptistery, which was remodeled in the early 20th century.
“The altar, restored, will be one we found and removed during the recent excavations near the tomb of Paul, which have made the tomb visible to pilgrims,” the cardinal explained.
On Monday, Cardinal Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo presented Benedict XVI with a program of the Pauline Year, to be celebrated from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009.

I think it is great that the Catholic Church has opened the door in this way to other Christians; hopefully through other Christians finding their way into the physical Catholic Church, they may find their way to the communion within the Catholic Church.