Monday, Feb. 3, 2014
Feast of St. Blaise
by Deacon Robert Banet
What’s new, Charlie?
Super Bowl Sunday, what else?
Ah, yes. Did you see the American Atheist billboard about “Hail Mary” passes?
No, I missed that. What did it say?
It said in football, the Hail Mary might be a good thing but as a prayer it was just superstition.
Wow! Those guys are on the march. By the way, what would be your response to that?
Well, superstition is the belief that when you do something, say, like rubbing a rabbit’s foot, then automatically some result will follow.
How is that different from prayer?
In prayer, we say something but we don’t believe that automatically something will result.
You’ll have explain that a little more.
In prayer, we say the prayer but we trust in God. We don’t think the prayer itself causes the effect. We unite the prayer to God, who hears that prayer.
That makes it a little clearer. But what happens when the prayer is not answered?
Ah, that’s a problem, I admit. The easy answer is that God answers the prayer but this time his answer is No.
Yeah, I’ve heard that.
But it’s true. If what we ask for is for our salvation, He answers it. Otherwise, no.
I guess I can buy that. But prayer is still a mystery.
I can say Amen to that. Glory to God.