Fifth Sunday after Easter--25 May AD 2014

These four things take place whenever Holy Mass is offered. And, ideally, they are part of all of our own personal prayers.

· “Thanksgiving” is the expression of gratitude for all of the good things that God has given us—acknowledging that without Him we would not have anything at all, not even our selves.

· “Propitiation” is the offering of our prayers and sacrifices to God, asking that He turn away His righteous anger for our sins, for the sins of family and friends, for the sins of our nation and of our world.

· “Petition” is asking God for the things we need (and others need) for our physical and spiritual wellbeing.

As I said, all four of these elements ought to make up our prayers. Perhaps we will have the opportunity to say more about “Adoration,” “Thanksgiving,” and “Propitiation” at a later time, but the Gospel today suggests that we might spend a few minutes considering the fourth element, “Petition.”

But before we go on, we ought to give a little thought to "Petition" as it relates to today's Epistle. Saint James is quite clear about the matter:

If we are to consider ourselves religious—if we are to consider ourselves Catholics—we must concern ourselves with those around us who are in need. In the Lord's Prayer, we ask God to "forgive us ... as we forgive those who trespass against us." We might consider that if we ask God to "grant us His favor," it is likely that we will get it only insofar as "we favor those around us in need." But, let us get back to the general subject of "Petition."

Actually our Lord is repeating something from just a few minutes earlier, after the Last Supper. Saint Augustine points out that the earlier passage helps to put our Lord’s promise in better perspective:[2]

Saint Augustine’s point was that when we “ask something in Jesus’ name.” we must be asking for something that is in accord with the Commandments, and in accord with the will of the Father. If we were to ask for something that went against God’s will, we would just be making sounds that would have no meaning..

The Lord’s Prayer has all four of the elements of complete prayer, and in it we clearly see this submission to the Divine Will: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It should be clear that we must not pray for something sinful—something that would work against our salvation, or against the salvation of another. Indeed, it seems that such an evil use of prayer would work positively against us, and not in our favor. In His justice, God might view a prayer for someone else’s death or damnation as a plea for our own death or damnation—it might be a self-inflicted curse.

Many people pray for what they want, at least as often as they pray for spiritual needs. The child that asks God for a red wagon, or the adult that sings “O Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz,” is doing nothing wrong on the surface of it. In fact, such prayers of petition do acknowledge our dependence on Almighty God, and acknowledge our relationship with him. But, certainly, that kind of prayer is going to be highly contingent—God knows what is good for us, far better than we do ourselves. If God knows that the car or the wagon would get us into trouble, the answer to that prayer must be “No!”

Even the prayer that seems unselfish may be perceived by God as harmful if it works against the higher good of the person. For example, God might deny a prayer for someone’s health, if He knows that the person is now ready to meet death, and that an extension of life would increase his chance of Purgatory or Hell.

It makes the greatest sense, then, to make our petitions in terms that request final perseverance, eternal salvation, and holy joy. Petition should be part of our prayers. But the most enlightened petition might be just to ask God to do whatever He knows best. The salvation of souls is always God’s will, so it is always appropriate to pray for that for ourselves and for everyone else for whom we should pray. Likewise to pray for the delivery of souls from Purgatory.

Since I was a little boy, I’ve been told that involving the Blessed Virgin in our prayers is an effective way to gain what we need. But if you remember the Gospel about the wedding feast at Cana, you know that Mary discovered the bridal couple’s problem without being asked by anyone: “They have no wine.” And she was able to overcome even the objection of her divine Son. “She turned to the waiters and said: ‘Just do whatever He tells you to do.’” [4] So I have adopted the practice of reciting the prayer Memorare to our Lady each morning, purposefully asking for nothing other than that she request God to do whatever would be most beneficial in her sight. I still pray for others, but it seems to work best to leave my own needs in her hands.

Above all, I would urge you to pray often, even if your petitions are a little selfish. As I said, they acknowledge your relationship with God. Prayer should be a regular acknowledgement—we must not be strangers to God!

There is a joke about an atheist who called out to God in desperation to start his car, despite a dead battery, so that he could escape from an onrushing avalanche in the mountains of Colorado. After what seemed like forever, the car started, and the man went on to become a good Catholic. But when he got to heaven, he just had to ask Saint Peter about God’s response to that one critical prayer: “Why did it take so long to start the car—why would a miracle take so long?” Peter thought for a moment, and said “Oh, yes! Now I remember who you are. We had never heard from you before, and had no idea where you might be. God started two cars in Montana, a snow mobile in Wyoming, and a truck in Nebraska, before we could trace the prayer back to you in Colorado!”

That is a joke, of course! But don’t be a stranger to God in your prayers. “Adoration, Thanksgiving, Propitiation, and Petition” Ideally, your prayers will contain all four, but even if they don’t, be sure that God know where you are—that He knows that you want to do His will, and to enjoy eternal happiness with Him in heaven.

[1] Gospel: John xvi: 23-30 http://www.drbo.org/x/d?b=drb&bk=50&ch=16&l=23#x

[2] Homily of St Augustine, Bishop. 102nd Tract on John. Third nocturne of Matins for this Sunday

[3] John xiv: 11-14 http://www.drbo.org/x/d?b=drb&bk=50&ch=14&l=11#x

[4] John ii: 3, 5. http://www.drbo.org/x/d?b=drb&bk=50&ch=2&l=3#x