Please read this passage before reading the homily.
There are two times at Mass when we should be making petitions to God. The first time is after the Glory to God when the priest says, “Let us pray” and pauses. This pause is to place ourselves in the presence of God and to formulae within ourselves our requests.” During this pause we make our personal intentions.
The second time is the Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful. This prayer is for general and spoken petitions. It is something of response to God who has spoken to us in the Word of God. “It is fitting that this form of prayer be usually made at Masses celebrated with people, so that petitions may be offered for holy Church, for those who govern with authority over us, for those weighed down by various needs, for all humanity, and for the salvation of the world.” According, we pray “(a) for the needs of the Church, (b) for public authorities and the salvation of the world, (c) for those burdened by any kind of difficulty, and (d) for the local community.”
Why should we pray for these? We have to pray for them because the first letter of Paul to Timothy teaches us to offer “supplications, prayers, petitions and thanksgivings for everyone, heads of State and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.”
Why should we pray for these? We do not like everyone and not everyone likes us. We have to pray for them since there is no more than one God and no more than on mediator between God and us. This one God of ours has made the whole world and only one Lord has saved all of us.
If there were more than one God or more than one Savior, then we could pray for some (but not all) people and exclude the rest. The oneness of God and the oneness of Christ calls for the oneness of all the people of the world. Therefore, each one of us has to pray for the rest of us.