Living as a Child of God: The Power of Petitionary Prayer

“For a year and a half now, Jesus has willed to change the manner of making His little flower grow. He has no doubt found her sufficiently watered, for now it is the sun that aides her growth. Jesus wants to give her nothing but His smile and this He does through you, dear Mother.” So wrote Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-97) to her prioress, Mother Marie de Gonzague. The content of Thérèse’s reflections here are profound: she is rejoicing amidst humiliations and trials that we might find crushing, seeing in them the opportunity to soak in “the living waters of humiliation.”

But Thérèse’s style can rub people the wrong way. She was a particularly feminine Frenchwoman, a 24 year-old who had been in a convent since age 15, and the youngest of five daughters to an extremely-doting father whose nickname for her was “my little queen.” For those without her temperament, personality, or family history, her writings can sometimes come off more as cloying than edifying.

This is the danger in talking about “spiritual childhood.” Too easily, we imagine it as a sort of saccharine baby talk, in a way that most of us (particularly men) find unrelatable and even uncomfortable. After all, doesn’t St. Paul say “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Cor. 13:11)? Perhaps we should just leave spiritual childhood to those who like being treated like children.

Not so. Spiritual childhood isn’t an option in the spiritual life. It’s a necessary precondition to entering the kingdom of God. We hear this from Jesus’ own lips. When some of His followers brought him their children, “even infants,” the Apostles rebuked them. But Jesus did something quite different: calling the children to himself, he said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Luke 18:16-17). So your choices are to receive the kingdom as a child, or not to enter the kingdom at all.

So what does “spiritual childhood” mean, and how can we practice it? Thérèse reflected upon this in prayer, crying out that “the elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more.” In other words, spiritual childhood isn’t about pretending to be weak and little, but recognizing our weakness and littleness and turning towards our all-powerful Father in trust and humility.

Perhaps it would help to approach the topic from the perspective of a (very) different Saint, St. Josemaría Escrivá (1902-75). Here’s a man whose most famous line might well be “you… proud? About what?” and who counseled “let your prayer be manly. To be a child does not mean to be effeminate.” At first blush, he bears little resemblance to Thérèse. But Josemaría also recognized the critical importance of authentic spiritual childhood, and gave concrete advice for how to live it out. A correspondent had written to him, concerned that he was spending his prayer time after Communion asking for things before he ever got around to actual thanksgiving. Rather than rebuke him, Josemaría responded, “Don’t worry, and don’t try to force yourself: when the father is good and the child simple and daring, don’t you see how the little lad puts his hand into his father’s pocket, looking for sweets, before greeting him with a kiss? Well then…”

In the proper spirit, then, petitionary prayer is a concrete way of living out spiritual childhood. In asking God for things, we’re recognizing our own shortcomings (including our inability to just grant ourselves our requests), as well as his power and goodness. As Thérèse described when she told her novices, “We can never have too much confidence in our God who is so mighty and merciful. As we hope in him, so shall we receive.”

A priest I know once explained it like this: when a baby cries, he may not know just what’s wrong. But he knows that if he cries out loudly enough and persistently enough, eventually, someone will come to his aid. And not just anyone, but a parent who is incomparably wiser and stronger, who loves him, and who both wants the best for him and knows what’s best for him. That’s what’s happening in petitionary prayer: maybe we think we know what we want, or maybe we’re just crying out for help. But either way, it’s a declaration of faith in a Father who loves us, who wants what’s best for us, and who can and will give us the happiness and joy we crave.

Sometimes, this goes horribly awry. The Romanian orphanages under the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu were so overcrowded that the severely-neglected infants stopped crying: they learned that it was a waste of breath, because no one loved them enough to come for them. We can suffer something similar spiritually: wounds inflicted by our earthly parents or prayers that seem to go unanswered can lead us to doubt that our petitions matter, or are even heard. But Jesus instructs us to trust, and to keep crying, which is why he tells the parable of the persistent widow (Lk. 18:1-8). Or perhaps we’ve concluded that prayer simply doesn’t change things. St. James responds by calling for us “pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects” (James 5:16).

Other times, perhaps we think, like Josemaría’s correspondent, that petitionary prayer is too basic, too simplistic, too… childish. Pope Francis addressed this objection in his recent apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, showing how petitionary prayer is a wonderful way of living out love of God and love of neighbor simultaneously:

Prayer of supplication is an expression of a heart that trusts in God and realizes that of itself it can do nothing. The life of God’s faithful people is marked by constant supplication born of faith-filled love and great confidence. Let us not downplay prayer of petition, which so often calms our hearts and helps us persevere in hope. Prayer of intercession has particular value, for it is an act of trust in God and, at the same time, an expression of love for our neighbour. There are those who think, based on a one-sided spirituality, that prayer should be unalloyed contemplation of God, free of all distraction, as if the names and faces of others were somehow an intrusion to be avoided. Yet in reality, our prayer will be all the more pleasing to God and more effective for our growth in holiness if, through intercession, we attempt to practise the twofold commandment that Jesus left us. Intercessory prayer is an expression of our fraternal concern for others, since we are able to embrace their lives, their deepest troubles and their loftiest dreams. Of those who commit themselves generously to intercessory prayer we can apply the words of Scripture: “This is a man who loves the brethren and prays much for the people” (2 Mac 15:14).

Petitionary prayer matters. It lets us live out the love of God and neighbor, it changes the world, and it changes us, reminding us of our littleness and our need for God. Without prayers of petition, we cannot fully live our lives in spiritual childhood, the precondition to entering the kingdom. It is at once a recognition of our own weakness (alone), and our own security in the arms of Christ, and in the loving gaze of the Father. So let us pray with the “daring” of a child searching for sweets in the pocket of a father he knows loves him. Or, as Josemaría put it: “Don’t forget, silly child, that Love has made you all-powerful.”

29 comments

  1. Joe,

    Very nice.

    But…why aren’t petitions for extraordinary events (dissolve the hurricane before it hits land; grant me supernatural knowledge so I can aid my friend break a cryptographic lock installed on his computer by hackers) and extraordinary healings (heal my my shattered spine; heal my amputated arm; heal my blindness by giving me new physical eyes; resurrect my deceased son from the dead) ever granted?

    It would seem that they should be somewhat frequent – thought not automatic or always guaranteed – events in the individual and communal life of faithful Christians if we’re to take the assertions, promises and worldview of the New Testament seriously.

    But they’re clearly not.

    1. Some people look for the big miracles but ignore the small ones. I’m very sensitive to small miracles that happen on almost a daily basis. Things like, first communicating with my future wife on the Feast day of St. Francis, all the while I was printing 10,000 plus copies of Bonaventure’s ‘Life of St. Francis’ on an off-set press in my garage for free distribution. Or, after a severe argument with my same wife one day, I wake to find a glass framed picture fallen off the wall, and this was when we couldn’t decide when we should move into our house that was just finished construction…and when I saw the picture, with glass unbroken, I thought: “I guess the Lord wants us to pack up and get out of here. He’s already started the process”. And I went to my wife and forgot about the argument and said…”Let’s go. It’s time to move.” And we never spoke of the argument again.

      Or, when I was a youth, a fly woke me up by buzzing my face, and I looked at the clock and found I had only 15 mins. to get to a dental appointment which was ‘absolutely’ necessary necessary for me to go to at that very time. I was scheduled to work/live in a different city and had to fill that requirement of getting my teeth checked and ‘signed off’ on. So, without that helpful little fly I would not have made the appointment, and also would not have had time to schedule another such appointment, and consequently wouldn’t have had the ability to complete the important project that I was working on at the time. And how many other such things have happened in my life? Countless. All coincidences? Or, little miracles? I think people only need to be more sensitive to the Lord’s workings in our lives….which is more like a ‘gentle breeze, than an earthquake, or bolt of lightening…even as Elijah of old related in the Old Testament story.

      1. Hi awlms,

        I agree, existence itself is inherently miraculous, and many seemingly trivial events can have profound significance. There’s no denying that.

        But Christianity was born in extraordinary miracles, grew and spread through extraordinary miracles, and its founder and His apostles presented the reality of extraordinary miracles as a constitutive feature of the already-but-not-yet inauguration of the Kingdom of God and the individual and corporate life of those who had received the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

        “The Kingdom of God consists not in words, but in power” – 1 Corinthians 4:20.

        If we’re to take the assertions, promises and worldview of the NT seriously, then Christianity without extraordinary miracles isn’t the fullness of the Gospel. So either we have to argue for cessationism, which I don’t believe to be supported by either Scripture or the Magesterium, or we have to present a theologically sound reasons for its absence, or concede that the fullness of Christian life, as presented in the NT, is not the case, because it never was the case.

        1. Why can’t we look at the history of Christianity as we do Old Testament history. Miraculous events happened only occasionally in that great history, such as we find with Moses, Elias and Daniel. But for the most part they did not occur. And John the Baptist also was not a miracle worker, but is called and considered the greatest of all the prophets. So, contrary to your assertions that great miracles should be rather normal in the Christian life, and even a sort of proof of it’s validaty, I think that the fact that the OT had so few of them, and so few real prophets also, that scarcity of miracles should rather be the norm for Christianity, even as it was for the OT saints.

          This is not to say that there are no miracles that can be used as proofs for Christianity in modern times. For instance, as for major miracles we have the miracle of the Sun at Fatima in 1917, as one example. And, those at Lourdes also. We also have people like St. Anthony Claret, St. John Bosco, St. Padre Pio and St. Andre of Montreal who were all wonder workers of note. And my wife could probably give you a dozen female mystics and saints to add to the collection.

          In the end though, I rather think that Jesus Himself, His words, examples, parables and Holy Wisdom are the greatest of all proofs of His own truth. And Jesus also insinuates the same when He says “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father”. It is not seeing the miracles, but rather the Divine Person of the Son, which the miracles only make up one aspect of His power and revelation. And also, Jesus does not command us to be miraculous, but rather teaches that we ‘KEEP His word’ and ‘follow Him’. That is, we should become like Jesus and have Him living in our souls even as He said:

          “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him. [24] He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And the word which you have heard, is not mine; but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:23)

          So the emphasis of Jesus is not miracles, but an intimate relationship with Him and His Father. Moreover, if we take all the words and admonitions of the Lord found in the Holy Gospels, only a few of them refer to miracles that might be performed by His future disciples. And Jesus Himself also down-played many of His own miracles, so that they would not distract His followers from His own Divine Person, which is what really what provides eternal life, light and salvation to the world. Miracles and signs only point to the Way, the Truth and the Life…but they in themselves are not these things. Only Jesus Himself is.

          Best to you.

  2. Sometimes these healings do occur through prayer, there are many examples to be found. I hope you will experience this for yourself. How can we learn to love beauty if nothing is beautiful? How can we have charity, if no one requires it? How can we gain faith, if we do not hope in the wisdom of God? Unless the supernatural knowledge to break a lock on a computer leads to an increase in faith, and thereby the good of the soul, God isn’t going to grant it. Ultimately the salvation of souls is tantamount

  3. Hi Jean, and also Joe,

    I agree with you that if salvation is the supreme end, then God would order his activities to service that supreme end, which means that petitions for miraculous healing and supernatural intervention will not always be granted since it’s plausible that in some instances said interventions would undermine the supreme end. However, given the assertions, promises and worldview of the NT, one would expect miraculous healings and supernatural interventions to be a somewhat regular, if not automatic or guaranteed, feature of faithful Christian life, individually and corporately. Unfortunately, it’s not.

    Please provide a source for at least one documented, publicly verifiable healing that involved the instant and irreversible remediation of a non-psychosomatic physical malady, such as a congenitally blind person instantly regaining their sight, a paralyzed person instantly regaining full ambulatory powers, an amputee instantly gaining a new limb – not transient relief from a headache, sore back, sore muscles, or other conditions with relapse/remission cycles or conditions amenable to placebo-based pain alleviation, such as autoimmune conditions.

    1. Craig Kenner in his book “Miracles” collects many with available empirical evidence. Gary Habermas has written much on often contemporary expectations for miracles based on statements, often out of context of the often suffering authors and faithful who first imbided them. My few shekels is that what we’re, are and will be perceived as “empirical” miracles that would be extraordinary events often are found LATER to not necessarily be empirically “wow” – timing is everything, and if it answers a prayer, it answered a prayer. Even if as a convergence of otherwise simply unlikely things. I would also look into the works and words of Jacalyn Duffin regarding history of science and Causes for Saints.

  4. The paragraph above regarding the nature of petitionary prayer as compared to a crying baby is excellent.

    Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD), also, alludes to this comparison in his excellent treatise called “The Paedagogus” (The Instructor). Here is a pertinent quote:

    “…the new people are called young, having learned the new blessings; and we have the exuberance of life’s morning prime in this youth which knows no old age, in which we are always growing to maturity in intelligence, are always young, always mild, always new: for those must necessarily be new, who have become partakers of the new Word. And that which participates in eternity is wont to be assimilated to the incorruptible: so that to us appertains the designation of the age of childhood, a lifelong spring-time, because the truth that is in us, and our habits saturated with the truth, cannot be touched by old age; but Wisdom is ever blooming, ever remains consistent and the same, and never changes. Their children, it is said, shall be borne upon their shoulders, and fondled on their knees; as one whom his mother comforts, so also shall I comfort you. Isaiah 66:12-13 The mother draws the children to herself; and we seek our mother the Church. Whatever is feeble and tender, as needing help on account of its feebleness, is kindly looked on, and is sweet and pleasant, anger changing into help in the case of such: for thus horses’ colts, and the little calves of cows, and the lion’s cub, and the stag’s fawn, and the child of man, are looked upon with pleasure by their fathers and mothers. Thus also the Father of the universe cherishes affection towards those who have fled to Him; and having begotten them again by His Spirit to the adoption of children, knows them as gentle, and loves those alone, and aids and fights for them; and therefore He bestows on them the name of child.”

    The whole work can be found on the ‘New Advent’ site , here: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/02091.htm

  5. In response to the above replies (and again, a direct address to Joe):

    I agree – signs, wonders and miracles are not the full Gospel. But the Gospel is not full without them.

    The signs, wonders and miracles of Christ weren’t performed only to corroborate his claims or support his credibility – he described them as the confirmations and presence of the breaking-in of a new reality, namely, the Kingdom of God. Has this new reality faded out?

    The supernatural experience of the already-but-not-yet reality of the Kingdom of God is supposed to be part and parcel of the Christian life. If the Church is the extension of the person and work of Christ in and through space and time, then why can’t the Church perform the work of Christ in the same way that he did? Where are the extraordinary healings, the charismatic gifts of prophecy, xenoglossy, and resurrections of the dead?

    “Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” – John 14:12

    Jesus’ works included words and deeds and power. Without the power, Christianity is just another philosophy or lifestyle.

    1. If you’ve never read “Butler’s Lives of the Saints”, you will find multitudes of stories of miracles relating to the Catholic Saints. Just to mention a few: St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis Solanus, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis of Paola, St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Rose of Lima, St. Martin de Porres, St. John Bosco, St. Philip Neri, St. Simon the Stylite, St. Dominic, St. Patrick, etc….

      I might note that these Saints were particularly holy and dedicated people, and their miracles were not as remarkable, or wonderful, as their love for God and the works they accomplished for the sake of the Holy Gospel (like St. Paul’s works). Maybe Christians of our modern times prefer to spend their free time making and counting their friends on Facebook, instead of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament? Or, maybe watching very edifying broadcasting such as is found on the likes of CNN or MSNBC, instead of devoutly fasting and praying the Divine Office every day? Regarding our present time, it’s probably better to take a good look at the Book of Revelation, or to meditate of the words of Jesus:

      “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places: Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because INIQUITY hath abounded, the charity of many shall GROW COLD. (Matt. 24:7)

      Best to all.

      1. Hearsay from fourth-hand accounts is one thing, direct experience is another. Direct experience is promised by Christ through the Holy Spirit. But it doesn’t happen.

        1. SOS,

          Correct me if I misunderstand you. Are you saying that people are not able to directly experience reality?? People are not able to ascribe cause and effect to their own consciously lived experience?

          I awoke this morning in somewhat of a fog. I made myself a cup of MoJo and walked around the house a bit, opening blinds and windows. Thereupon I experienced the cool breeze and thanked God for it. Drinking my MoJo, I realized my brain daze had completely gone. Here is a miracle.

          Would you say my experience of miracle is hearsay? Would it be hearsay if it passed through the minds of four others before you heard it?

          1. Margo,

            If your morning experience with your coffee is to be understood as a miracle, then the term is so broad as to be meaningless.

            Examples of miracles, per the New Testament, presented as the work of Christ, and by extension the work of faithful Christians and the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit, for the internal and external building up of the Body of Christ:

            sudden ability to speak and proclaim in a human language that you never studied (xenoglossy); speaking in tongues but multiple people hear it in their own language (glossolalia, per Pentecost); instant remediation of paralysis, blindness, deafness, muteness, skin diseases and disfigurement; exorcism of the possessed through the invocation of the name of Jesus; the resurrection of the dead; supernatural knowledge of and naming of a person’s inner conflict/sin (prophecy), per 1 Corinthians 14:24.

            These are supposed to be somewhat regular – though not automatic or guaranteed – abilities of the Holy Spirit filled Body of Christ on earth.

            But these things simply don’t happen.

          2. Hi SOS,

            So how big does a miracle have to be? I proclaim my morning miracles: Existence, our consciousness of it and our ability to share each other’s with another; our being given one more new day to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, the fact that there IS a new day with the sun in the sky and grass on the ground, the beauty of it all, the aid of a cocao plant and its being in my kitchen (all the way from S. America) to get my neurons firing, the cool breeze on a warm summer day, the ability to walk, the finding of security and freedom within my house and country, etc. All miracles, all building up the Body of Christ.

            Must God be physically present/manifest and performing supernatural works in order for us to believe that he listens to us and gives us what we need? He gives us what we ask in faith.

            Scripture tells us not to look for signs…So why are we looking? ( Luke 11:29, Mark 8:11-12, John 4:48 et al.)

          3. Margo (ans SOS):

            When I read some of SOS comments, I was reminded of two events. First, that described in John 11:45-50…the Pharisees’ “but muh rice bowl” reaction to the resurrecting of a man four days dead. Second, the witnessing of not one, but two instantaneous and later, approved Lourdes miracles by the 19th century French author, hard-line skeptic and advocate of scientism, Emile Zola. The details of the second are easily available in a Google search. “Were I to see all the sick at Lourdes cured, I would not believe in a miracle.” Sucks to be you, Emile.

            The moral is simply, to some, no miraculous event ever will be sufficiently miraculous to engender belief. To those with faith, no explanation is necessary…..you know the rest.

    2. I don’t know if this means much, but I personally prayed for 2 people who were comatose (people I knew for decades), one of which was a life long friend of my father went comatose and wnever awoke after a hip surgery in his old age. Just days before his surgery I saw him and he was very fearful of having it. Then i head a few days later that he never awoke after the surgery. I was a bit troubled at this, and on one night during the same week I had a dream about that friend, and in the dream I was talking to a woman after Mass, and explaining to her how that elderly friend was always offering to help me in my projects that I was doing (even offering financial help…which is rare for people). And the women said these words: “Why don’t you ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to help, because she is very strong.” And so, in my dream I did that, and it was almost immediately after that dream that I was told that he awoke from the coma. I was a bit shocked, but happy as well at the news. A similar thing happened to my other friend who had the stroke, and was similarly comatose. Within a very few days after I prayed she awoke. Almost everybody thought she would die, even me. But this woman was always very nice to me, and so I prayed for her. Whether or not it was my prayers that were answered I don’t really know. And it might have all been natural. But the promptness of her awaking from the coma after this prayer gave me the ‘willies’.

  6. Signs and wonders were for those people, their expectations, not simply anyone waiting for random paranormal events. The Jewish people had expectations of Messiah that he utterly flummoxed, etc etc – other people’s would not have received these as signs of anything. Even the apostles simply heard his odd statements and claims as confusion until after the radically confusing Resurrection occurred, in the breaking of the breaking of the bread. Why must human-measured oddness be the yardstick? An end to slavery, widespread infanticide and on and on would definitely have been thought “impossible” in the ancient world, the natural world confirmed many such things to the minds of ancient natural philosophers, comparable to anything like a scientist or object measure of the inexplicable. And that sort of thing is accounted in the sources I pointed out. Even the Jesus miracle stuff can arguably be rationalized away by theories of theories of theories in “quantum physics” – and none of those stretches are as accounted as the “returns from the dead” (not THE Resurrection), tissue growth, resolved situations etc in the sources I’d mentioned. But again, it’s not hard to theorize as non-specialists utterly theoretical yet comfortably “rational” explanations for how the evidenced miraculous “more than what Christ did” extraordinary events aren’t extraordinary; if something is “more miraculous” – why would that be in a linear fashion? Must in be 100 temple guards ears reattached for example?

    1. Noah,
      Your post is difficult to comprehend. Could you, in one clear sentence, posit your premise?

      For example, you write, ” – other people’s would not have received these as signs of anything.” What ‘signs’? Who are ‘other people’? You write: “The Jewish people had expectations of Messiah that he utterly flummoxed, etc etc”. Please explain what those expectations were and how ‘he’ flummoxed, etc etc. Do you refer to Jesus? And what specifically do you intend by ‘etc etc’.

      I agree that some people may grasp onto theories to rationalize occurrences and facts by theories. Others see truth in events and facts.

      1. I see people who I deem to be trustworthy by the quality of their words and deeds, that is, I believe some people who feel to guilty to don’t substantially lie and who try to tell the truth as best as possible. I also see people who care nothing for the truth, and who have no problem lying. People who have been canonized as ‘saints’ by the Church are those that are particularly trustworthy in what they said and did in their lives. They can be trusted to not be liars. The Gospel authors are such as these saints. The Fathers of the Church also. And then, countless others, like St. Augustine, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Bede, St. Patrick, etc… who have left exquisite writings to adequately portray the depths of their soul according to Jesus’ words: “From the depths of the heart does the mouth speak”.

        So, I believe we have a world filled with truth tellers and a world filled with liars. And the Catholic Church has plenty of canonized saints that we can trust to be truthful in what they did in life, what they wrote and what they taught. If some people don’t believe, it might be because they themselves are not substantially honest and so don’t trust that there is much honesty and truth of soul in others. Others who are skeptics might have the charism of St. Thomas, who needed to put his fingers into the wounds of the risen Christ to believe. But according to the Gospel story, God is very patient with doubters, even as He was with Thomas. Otherwise this account would not have been included into the Gospel narrative.

        1. typos in the first sentence should read: ” …that is, I believe some people feel too guilty to substantially lie, and who try to tell the truth as best as possible.

          1. awlms,

            I find your description of St. Thomas having a charism of skepticism fascinating and thought provoking. Thanks.

          2. Hi SOS,

            Every apostle portrayed in the holy Gospel has his own particular charism, and we all might compare to their’s to one degree or another, and in one way or another. So, in the same way that it would be spiritual pride for St. John to think that his loving and intimate charism was superior to St. Peter’s, so too is it unwise for any of us to think that our particular charism is superior to that of another of our fellow Christians. And this is because, in all reality, we really don’t have the spiritual wisdom to distinguish such things. Only God is the judge of what, and who, is greatest in the Kingdom of God.

            For instance, when Jesus told St. Peter, in the Gospel story, to “Feed my sheep”, Peter very quickly afterwards was concerned with the statement of Jesus about St. John the Apostle, and how long he would live upon the Earth, or whether he also would suffer even as Jesus prophesied of Peter. Wherein Jesus rebuked him and basically told him to mind his own business and his own vocation, iin this exchange:

            Peter said: “Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith to him: So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? follow thou me. This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. And Jesus did not say to him: He should not die; but, So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee?” (John 21:17)

            So, we all know that John and Peter had particular personalities and spiritual charisms, and Thomas, Andrew, Nathaniel, and James had different ones also. And we all, in our present age, are basically the same as they were. God gives different charisms, personalities and spiritual gifts to every individual soul, even as St. Paul relates that we are all parts of the same body, with some being some ears, others feet, elbows, eyes, nostrils, …etc… and no one can say that the other part of the body is worthless.

            So, for modern Christians, the most important thing to do is to try to recognize the particular gift, or charism , that God has given to you in particular. Some people are highly mathematical and ‘brainy’, and others are highly musical or artistic. Others are inventors, and others still might be gardeners or laborers, but very productive. Some are particularly devoted to raising families, and others are ecclesiastics, or maybe monastic solitaries. So, according to St. Paul everyone has a particular place in the ‘body of Christ, and we just need to find out what we think our own place is, and try to do a good job in that particular vocations.

            But probably the most important thing, is for any member not judge the other members, so as to consider their charism to be superior and closer to the heart of God… and this is because Jesus warned against this very thing, when He said:

            “When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him: And he that invited thee and him, come and say to thee, Give this man place: and then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place; that when he who invited thee, cometh, he may say to thee: Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee.” (Luke 14:8)

            Best to you….and to Margo, as well.

            – Al ( a very least brother….but happy to know my place.)

        2. Al,

          You performed a miracle! I am touched and grateful.

          The other interesting thing about the Thomas gospel story? Thomas was not in the room when Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit the first time. All in God’s good time, all in His good time.

          Jesus said that all sins are forgiven except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

          1. Margo, we are all blessed just to meditate on all of these wonderful things regarding the Kingdom of God! … Just as the Gospel says of Mary:

            “But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.”
            [Luke 2:19]

            Best to you always.

    2. Noah,

      Sorry that the tone of my comment maybe came across as rough. I did not intend that, but on reading it today and wondering why you did not respond, I think maybe this is so….

      Please do not worry; we are all in the same boat. I have written more unclear sentences than I care to remember. Plus, my tone is often harsh (as in the post here above). I simply did not understand what you were trying to say. The fault may be more mine than yours. Fire away, but if you could re-word and keep it simple, I may understand. Let’s hope!

  7. Joe,

    I’ve addressed you directly in my comments here. If you can address the substance and specifics of my comments regarding the topic of this post, I’d appreciate it. Thanks.

    1. Hi sos,

      Joe rarely comments here. Not to say he won’t, though. In 5 years, I think he’s replied to me about 1 time. But I probably deserve it! 🙂

      Best to you.

  8. SOS,

    I wonder if you see a miracle in that I found online this passage just now from “Story of a Soul.” The byline coincidentally happens to be “Christmas Miracle of St. Therese.” St. Therese herself called the event her Christmas Miracle.
    https://aleteia.org/2017/12/09/the-christmas-miracle-that-changed-one-stubborn-girls-life-forever/

    “When I got home to Les Buissonnets from Midnight Mass, I knew that I should find my shoes standing at the fireplace, filled with presents, as I had always done since I was little, so you can see I was still treated as a baby.
    Father used to love to see how happy I was and hear my cries of delight as I took each surprise packet from my magic shoes, and his pleasure made me happier still. But the time had come for Jesus to cure me of my childishness; even the innocent joys of childhood were to go. He allowed Father to feel cross this year, instead of spoiling me, and as I was going upstairs, I heard him saying: “Therese ought to have outgrown all this sort of thing, and I hope this will be the last time.” This cut me to the quick, and Céline, who knew how very sensitive I was, whispered to me: “Don’t come down again just yet; you’ll only go and cry if you open your presents now in front of Father.”

    But I was not the same Thérèse any more; Jesus had changed me completely. I held back my tears, and trying to stop my heart from beating so fast, I ran down into the dining room. I picked up the shoes and unwrapped my presents joyfully, looking all the while as happy as a queen. Father did not look cross anymore now and entered into the fun of it, while Céline thought she must have been dreaming. But this was no dream. Thérèse had gotten back forever the strength of mind she had lost at four and a half.”

  9. Petitionary prayer? The Widow and the judge who feared neither God nor man. She cried for vengeance rather than blessings. But she cried enough that the judge gave her what she asked. How much more will He hear those who cry out for blessings rather than vengeance, and blessings more for others than themselves?

    Derek Prince in one of his videos recounts a woman he met who prayed daily for more than decade that her husband be healed of TB. Then came the day when a voice said to her, “Claim it!”, and he was healed at that moment.

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