(tabernacle in our chapel)
THE WITNESS OF PRAYER
Even the most devout Christian must have questions at times about how prayer works, how effective it is, about why we should pray. But one of the most trustworthy signs of a believer is the willingness to pray, to continue to pray. In many ways, our beliefs and our morals are less convincing signs of our following of Jesus than our praying is. Belief can, at times, be so simply a mental thing; the morals we practice are often duplicated by many nonbelievers.
But prayer shows a profound confidence that there is a God and that this God is concerned about all that we pray about. Prayer is a practice that makes absolutely no sense apart from a genuine trust in God and in God's willingness to help.
It's true that none of us may have a sure grip on how prayer works, but a belief in it is essential. When cancer strikes, when someone loses a job, when a marriage is in trouble, when a teenager seems headed for disaster, when an accident or illness worries us, we pray. We trust that someway and somehow God will help. Our trust does not mean we have to expect God to change the laws of the universe -- it will more likely be something much more subtle. Perhaps, as a result of prayer, someone for whom we pray learns how to deal with some disaster or big worry. We are probably better off in the long run not trying to figure out what God might or should do and instead trust that God has ways of which we know so little. "Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete." (John 16: 24)
(This reflection on prayer comes from the commentary on the readings for Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter,
Homilies for Weekdays, Year II, by Don Talafous, OSB, Liturgical Press.)
