Late Thursday evening last week I received an email from Shannon, a member of the Yale College class of 2021. This is what she wrote:

              Hi Fr. Ryan,

Hope you’re doing well! I’m writing this at the Singapore airport, while
waiting for my flight to Taiwan where I’ll be running a marathon this Sunday.

            I have two questions for you:

            (1) Would you like to contribute a song to my marathon playlist?

(2) Do you have any intentions I can pray for, when your song comes
on during the run?

            Peace!

 How awesome is that?

Shannon was baptized at the Easter Vigil, about a month before the end of her senior year. She was an avid ultimate frisbee player and recreational runner. After she graduated with a B.A. in Humanities, she returned to Singapore to work in public service. While handling the many responsibilities that come with her demanding job, running continues to be an especially important part of her day, and it helps to maintain the rhythm of her prayer life.

Taiwan’s Sun Moon Lake Marathon would be Shannon’s first attempt at the 26.2. Of course, I was happy and honored to contribute to her playlist. I offered two songs, and invited her to pick her favorite one: “Run” by Delta Rae and  “The Mission” by Ennio Morricone. 1         

I was also grateful for the opportunity to contribute to her list of prayer intentions. I asked her to pray for my ten-year old niece’s BFF who just finished a recent stay in the hospital. And course, I prayed for Shannon, that her first marathon would be a success, and that she would cross the finish line feeling proud and full of gratitude for having been blessed with the opportunity to glorify God in this way.

I am happy to report that Shannon ran very well! I learned afterwards that she was running with an old heel injury that had been aggravated two weeks before the race, and just after mile twenty, throbbing pain caused her to have to stop and stretch. When she got back on her feet to run the final six miles, she muttered, ‘God, not my will but yours be done,’ – and that refrain stayed with her through the final miles. When she crossed the finish line, having finished second in the women under thirty group, with tears in her eyes she prayed: “God, you are so faithful.” Indeed, God IS so faithful. Let’s keep that always in our minds and hearts, taking each day in stride, and running on faith.

[1] I’ve been listening to this one a lot lately. It’s a great song to play on repeat in my mind while running and praying during this time of year, especially as we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints and the Feast of All Souls, which begin a month dedicated to prayer for our beloved ones who go before us, and await us on the other side of eternity. It makes me think of what it might be like to enter the halls of Heaven, and I’m reminded of a classic running Scripture, the opening verses to Chapter 12 in the Letter to the Hebrews: “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.”