Traditional Catholic Teaching - FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

Amen, amen, I say to you:
if you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it you.

John 16: 23.

The first three days of this week are the Rogation days, when the Church reminds us to pray particularly for the crops of all kinds, and to pray more especially that the fruit of good works may abound in our hearts. Let us be zealous in prayer on these holy days and ask God for all that is necessary and conducive to the general welfare and also to our own welfare and the salvation of our souls. Not only during these three days, but always, ought we to bear in mind our Lord's comforting doctrine that holy Church impresses upon us by means of the Rogation days: "If you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it you." There can be nothing more consoling in all circumstances, and whenever we are in need of anything, than the certainty that we may go to God and ask Him for what we want in the name of Jesus, and for the merits of His dearly loved Son, and, provided it is really for our good, we are sure to obtain it. Our request is granted through Christ's infinite merits, but it behooves us, too, to do our best to be worthy of having our prayers heard.

If our prayers are to be granted, we must pray with confidence, relying upon God's infinite wisdom, mercy and power, and trusting to the infinite efficacy of Christ's merits. This confidence must be heartfelt. Whenever we read the holy Gospels we see what great favours our Lord bestowed upon those who really trusted Him, when they called upon Him. All sorts of people came to Him: the blind, the dumb, and those who had suffered for years from incurable diseases; humanly speaking there seemed to be no hope of cure for such as these, but they asked with confidence, not doubting or wavering; they prayed, being fully convinced of our Lord's merciful kindness and power, and it was with joy that they received the assurance that their prayer was granted: "Be of good cheer, my son, my daughter; thy faith, thy heartfelt confidence hath made thee whole."

Our prayers are often far too cold and too mechanical, and in the depths of our heart we are too apt to give way to cowardly doubts, and so we have no right to expect to be heard.

Our confidence ought to be simple and childlike. Let us not forget that our Lord said: "Let the little ones come unto me!" Childlike simplicity is only too often absent from our prayers, and, in the blindness and obstinacy of our hearts, we try to dictate to God, instead of simply asking Him for what we want. We require Him to act in some particular way, and to help us as we think best. We are often not heard, because there is no humility and no real submission to God's Will in our prayers. We ought to pray like little children, asking God to do what in His love and wisdom He sees best, although we may think otherwise, and then our prayers are sure to be heard, and we shall obtain what is really good for us.

Our confidence ought to be lively, for life is displayed in activity, and where there is no movement there is death. Hence lively confidence makes us work as well as pray. With regard to temporal matters, most people see that it would be useless to pray for our daily bread if we did not work for it, and useless to pray for knowledge and wisdom if we did not exert ourselves to learn; but with regard to the higher gifts of grace it is not everyone who understands that he must do his best to secure them, and not only pray for them. Many ask forgiveness without giving a thought to true contrition; many pray for amendment of life, without making the least attempt to improve. They would be pleased if, by means of a miracle, God were suddenly to take away from their hearts all tendency to sin; but they are not willing to be watchful, and to deny and conquer themselves. The prayers of such people seem to imply that God ought to prevent them from perishing when they rush into occasions of sin, and that He ought to make them more pious and virtuous in the midst of the bad company which they have no intention of forsaking. They make it impossible for their prayers to be heard, and when at last they see that they are sinners, devoid of all grace, they blame God for it, saying: "I have prayed a great deal, and all my prayers have been useless. Henceforth I will give up prayer altogether." Prayers, unaccompanied by honest effort, and made without confidence, are indeed of no value; but you ought to give up praying in this way and offer instead a prayer full of good will, which will penetrate not only to the heights of heaven, but also into the depths of your own heart, and impel it to act, to struggle, and to overcome.

Our confidence ought to be lasting, and then we shall have the joy of knowing that our persevering prayers have been heard. Man in his impetuosity wishes to carry everything by storm. He hears or reads of some virtue to-day, and wants to possess it perfectly to-morrow. Yet all things in the world grow slowly; growth is sure, though unseen. Continue to pray, even though it may seem that it is impossible for you to improve; you will gain strength imperceptibly, and at last, perhaps after many years, you will be able honestly and without vanity to say: "I have made progress." The same applies to everything for which you pray. Do not fancy that you need only ask for a thing, and will at once receive it in full perfection. You must continue to have confidence in God; when you imagine that your prayers have been of no avail, they may have effected very much, only the time has not yet come for you to see the fulfilment of your request. The harvest, that we see in the summer, lies for a long time in the earth as seed; no one can look at it, no one knows what is going on, but some secret force is acting upon and in the buried grains. God's fatherly eye is watching over them, and His hand is giving them life; God works where no man can perceive His action; only persevere in prayer.

If our confidence is lasting, our prayer will rise up to God every day, and our morning and night prayers should be golden chains, binding us indissolubly to heaven, and drawing us up whenever in the course of our everyday life we sink down in the dust of this world.

As long as life lasts let us persevere in prayer, being full of heartfelt, childlike, simple, living and lasting confidence; let us pray, trusting absolutely in the merits of Jesus Christ, and then some day in heaven we shall realize the fulfilment of our Lord's promise: "If you ask the Father anything in My Name, He will give it you." Amen.

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