“Pray, hope, and don’t worry” says Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in his famous quotation. For some of us, this saying may bring comfort in our current condition of a world that becomes more obviously unstable with each passing day. Additionally, we may be tempted to say “That’s a nice thought, Padre, but easier said than done.” How can we hope and not worry when there is a whirlwind around us? The answer is found in Padre’s little saying; prayer must come first.
In part IV of the Roman Catechism, the Council Fathers of Trent go into a discourse on prayer generally and, particularly, the Lord’s Prayer. I’d like to walk through this section together for a few columns, at least the section on prayer in general. Therefore, we will start with the first section; The Necessity of Prayer. The Catechism states, “Prayer is a duty not only recommended by way of counsel, but also commanded by obligatory precept. Christ the Lord declared this when He said: we should pray always.” (Roman Catechism, 439). Prayer is not simply a suggestion. Prayer is our Christian duty as followers of Christ and children of the Father. Christ, in giving us the greatest commandment, tells us “To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength” (Mk. 12:30). How can we love God with our whole being if we do not pray? Imagine if you claimed to love your spouse or another family member while at the same time never speaking to them. This would call into question the sincerity of your claim. Without prayer, our claim to have faith in God would be, in fact, reduced to a simple acknowledgement that God exists which is hardly love. Not only does Christ command us to pray, but he shows us. The Catechism tells us “He Himself was to them a model of prayer: He not only prayed assiduously but watched whole nights in prayer” (Roman Catechism, 440). In the Holy Gospels, we often see Christ going off by Himself to pray to the Father. If prayer was essential to Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity incarnate, how absolutely necessary it is for us as fallen humans. Additionally, the saints have always emphasized the importance of prayer for the accomplishment of union with God and holiness. Saint Alphonsus said it most starkly when he said “He who does not pray will not be saved.” Not only is prayer a duty for us, but it is necessary for obtaining the things which we need. The Catechism states, “So various are our temporal and spiritual necessities, that we must have recourse to prayer as the best means for communicating our wants and receiving whatever we need. For since God owes nothing to anyone, we must ask of Him in prayer those things we need, seeing that He has constituted prayer as a necessary means for the accomplishment of our desires, particularly since it is clear that there are blessings which we cannot hope to obtain otherwise than through prayer” (Roman Catechism, 440). Our Lord has told us “Ask and it will be given to you.” God is so gracious and abundant with us. He gives us so much for so little in return, we just need to ask. How few people, however, do even this. Yet, if we persist in prayer, we can have confidence to receive. It is important to note, though, that you may not necessarily receive everything you ‘want.’ You will, however, “succeed in obtaining the object of your desires” which is Christ Himself (Roman Catechism, 440). Thus prayer is the first and most essential part of Padre Pio’s little saying. For by prayer, we are obedient to Our Lord’s commands and persevering in asking Our Lord to give us all that we need. Part of what we need is hope. Being a theological virtue, the Father wants to give us hope. Therefore, we just need to ask and persevere in asking. More and more, He will grant it to us and, once we have hope, we have the grace to escape worry.
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About MeAn Iowa-raised convert to Catholicism seeking to live my life entirely for Jesus and His Church with all the saints. Archives
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