TO PRAY AND TO TRUST
Today's
Gospel of Mark is unusual, not because Jesus drove out the unclean spirit from
the man, but because He did so without being asked. More often than not Jesus
helps needy people in response to a petition. It is not as if Jesus has to be
told what should be done, but rather, He wills that His help comes as a result
of faith manifested in a request.
Scriptures
tells us that "true faith works through love and abounds in hope"
(Gal 5:6). True faith is both a free gift of God and the free assent of our
will to the whole truth that God has revealed. In order to live, grow, and
persevere in the Faith to the end, we must nourish it with the Word of God. The
Lord gives us His Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds that we may grow in His
truth and in the knowledge of His great love for each of us. To conform our
lives according to God's word!
God
does not need to be informed about our needs. Such is not the purpose of the
prayer of petition. Instead, God has, for the most part, willed to respond to
our needs in answer to our prayers. To put it another way and perhaps more
accurately, God moves us to pray for what is right and good as part of His
overall plan to do what is right and good for us.
In the
ancient world, names often indicate one's function or role in life. Over the
next few weeks, we will hear how Samuel fulfills the role that God entrusts to
him. Maybe our names indicate the role or function God has given to us. If we
believe that we can discern God's will for us through prayer, reflection, meditation
and our relationships with others, then
we, like Samuel, have the meaning of our names!
Jim
Murphy is a lay retreat director who took a journey forty-two hundred miles on
foot across America while carrying a six foot cross, in an effort of prayer and
evangelization. It took eighteen months and fourteen pairs of shoes! He gave
talks about discerning God's will in one's life, stating, "We hear God
more when we relax than if we are anxiously saying, 'Come, God. I need an
answer now.'" He also talks about the three big "D's" of
discernment to help us: Discern, Decide and Do.
All
along Samuel was part of God's plan. He willed to send this extraordinary man
to govern and direct His people because they needed him. But God wanted Hannah,
as a representative of all the people, to pray that a son would be granted her
despite her apparent inability to bear a child.
And pray, Hannah did! In fact, she prayed so fervently that Eli,
observing her in the temple, thought she was drunk! In answer to her prayer she
conceived Samuel.
Our
prayers of petition, especially our prayer of the faithful at Mass, should be
fervent and persevering. We do not pray, however, to inform God or to change
His mind about something. Rather, we pray because God wants us to pray, and He
wishes to respond to our need in answer to our prayers.