Hello, yes, it’s me. Sorry for the mix up with sending out the wrong days and the other mix ups. It is truly a learning curve.
I would dare say that we all say prayers of petition. We say our novenas for nine days, we say the correct number of prayers, we follow the instructions to a “T”. And at the end of our novena, nothing happens. We are wondering if I may have not said the correct number of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be(s). What happened? Why does not God hear me?
In the First Book of Kings, the prophet Elijah put the priests of the god Ba’al to a test. And with all their drum beatings, crying out, and all the other rituals, their god did not answer. Elijah told them “Cry aloud . . .he has gone aside or he is on a journey or perhaps is asleep..”(1Kings 18;27) You might what to read the entire story for yourself.
Thomas Merton tells us today, “Do not be discouraged. The Holy Spirit is not asleep.”
Yes we have our prayers, we have our novena and all the rest. But we have got to remember that our prayers are not magical formulas that deliver what we want when we want it. God knows what we need before we do.
What is needed is faith. Faith that the Father hears our prayers, He knows what we need, He will answer our requests. The answer to our prayers may not always come to us as we would want. But sometimes, as the Scriptures tell us, we sometimes don’t know what is the best answer to our prayer. As I said before, sometimes the best prayers are the ones that go unanswered. Not because God does not care. But rather the Father knows what is best for us. And as any good parent, they ALWAYS know what is best for their little ones.
Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf and theBros and Srs of the Franciscan House of Prayer.
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