5th Sunday after Easter 27.4.08 Prayer
The apostles had the power to heal, such that even their shadow would heal those on whom it fell. Also clothing which had touched people had healing effect.
And people will flock to see Padre Pio, St Bernadette and other incorrupt saints.
Why? Because they feel they are getting closer to God, through these holy people and objects.
The place where Our Lady appeared is a better place than the equivalent place up the road, because it has been blessed or used by God in a special way.
So we make use of such aids in our own quest for healing.
Also we would ourselves like to be a source of healing for others. This is not so pretentious as it might sound, when we consider today’s Gospel. Our Lord points to His own exalted status. You can ask the Father for whatever you need, but then you can ask Me too, because I am so close to the Father that it comes to the same thing.
The degree of closeness to God is the crucial factor. A place where God (or saint) has appeared is valuable because it has been close to God. Padre Pio is valuable because he has been close to God. When close enough to God it becomes the practical equivalent of meeting God Himself and He acts through the person or place.
This tells us two things about our own prayer: that it will ‘work’ better if we are closer to God than further away. Sixty seconds of prayer from a saint is better than sixty minutes from a sinner.
Also that the objective of prayer is not just to get something to happen, but rather as an end in itself to come closer to God, to be united with Him.
When we pray we are aiming at a state of being rather than a particular outcome.
So if I pray: Lord, please make it rain; I am really saying, Lord, please bring me closer to You. (Then I can make it rain myself! Well, almost)
It is not how many minutes or how many Hail Marys,but how much do you love God; how ardently do you seek Him? Not how much prayer but how close to God?
It is a matter of intensity.
The more we pray (measured in intensity) the more God-like we become, and the more likely we are to work miracles, or at least facilitate them.
Sermons frequently exhort to more prayer, but it is difficult to say how much more.
It varies from person to person. Some live alone in an almost monastic atmosphere; others are drowning in other people and busy-ness.
So now we can see that less minutes spent in prayer might not be a problem if the genuine love of God is present.
Of course, we could all squeeze out a few more minutes if we really looked – turn off the television for example; but the intensity is what we really seek.
Prayer is the best remedy for whatever the situation is:
praise and thanksgiving for what is working as it should;
penance and supplication for what needs to be different.
And miracles waiting to happen, or better still, to become normal. Why can’t it be normal to call upon and receive the grace of God in both good times and bad?
Can we recapture apostolic fervour? We don’t know, but we do know we can always improve on where we are.
So everyone of us, pray more - more deeply if not more time, and don’t be surprised if a lot of good things start happening.
