The Best Prayer

6^th Week of Easter (S)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP

St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Does God answer your prayers? God the Father provides for us in abundance, always. Yet, we often pray as if He were a stingy Santa Claus or tightwad genie. We beg, bargain, threaten, and otherwise miss the whole point of being children of the Father. Ask and you will receive. Asking is receiving. God gives; we receive. The procedure here is pretty simple: ask for what you need; God gives; you receive. What's not so simple is habituating yourself to not getting what you asked for in the form you asked for it. A child asks Mom for a snack. She gives the child an apple. Not what the child wanted. He was thinking more along the lines of ice cream. He asks for ice cream. Mom says no. Now the child believes that Mom doesn't love him and wants him to starve. Do we do the same when we pray? Rather than telling God what you want, try asking God for what you need and let Him decide how best to meet that need. He is, after all, God. And you and I, after all, are not. Perhaps the best way to pray is this: “Lord, I need whatever you have to give me today, and I receive it with praise and thanksgiving. Amen.” 

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Ask, receive, give thanks

St. Philip Neri

Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP

St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Philip Neri, known as “Pippo” to his friends, is the Saint of Joy and the Second Apostle of Rome. He was a practical joker, an eccentric, and a tireless confessor. Philip knew the dangers of anxiety, how worry eroded the soul's relationship with God. At its root, anxiety is faithlessness given physical form in the body. Cramps, headaches, ulcers, grinding teeth – all bodily symptoms of a failure to trust in God's providence. Paul urges the Philippians to dispel anxiety with prayer and thanksgiving; anxiety is overcome with gratitude. How so? God provides. We receive. We receive God's gifts as gifts. We give Him thanks, acknowledging our total dependence on His graces. Knowing that all we have and that all we will ever have comes from God dispels any concern we may have for tomorrow. God will provide what we need. No more, no less. Cramping your body and soul with worry will not force God to act according to your will. Anxiously grinding your teeth will not move God's hand. Try gratitude instead. Ask, receive, and give thanks. We belong to Christ. And he will always provide.

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Strength to bear the Truth

6^th Week of Easter (W)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP

St. Dominic Church, NOLA

Jesus has more to tell to the disciples, but they can't bear it right now. He sends the HS to guide them to the fullness of truth. The Athenians worship an Unknown God. With the help of the HS, Paul convinces some of them that this god is actually God Himself. What is unknown becomes known. He who is hidden is revealed. The work of the HS here is not the work of an oracle or a fortune-teller. The work of the HS among us is the work of the Love that the Father has for the Son and the Son for the Father. That Love creates and re-creates; He brings light out of darkness; He pulls back the veil of ignorance and makes us know. Why does He do this? Because we are limited creatures, moving slowly through the time and space we've been given. We don't always see clearly. And there are some truths we are not yet ready to bear. However, abiding faithfully in the HS, we can come to see what we need to see. The Unknown God is revealed as the Father. Some in Athens saw; some did not. The question to ask: am I ready to see? Am I ready to hear? If so, ask the HS to reveal His truth. And ask for the strength to bear the truths you need.

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A dangerous game

6^th Week of Easter (M)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP

St. Dominic Church, NOLA

The Lord plays a dangerous game with our lives. By opening our hearts to his Word and the HS, he puts a target on our backs. By calling us to repentance and conversion, he sets us against the spirit of the age and demands that we stand firm. By revealing himself as the Truth and taking us in as brothers and sisters in the Truth, he makes us orphans in a world of lies. Of course, we have the option of ignoring both the Word and the HS. We can freely choose not to become brothers and sisters to the Christ and carry on in sin toward death. But if we choose to hold our hearts open, the HS will come to stay. And his presence will push aside the darkness, the lies, the confusion, and even death itself. As all the apostles but John discovered, the prince of this world will not tolerate too bright a light for long. There's the danger to our lives. By receiving His Word and the HS, we freely choose to help the Lord affix that target. There can be no whining from us about opposition or persecution. Jesus says that abiding in the HS will bring both. What we can do is abide in peace and shine so brightly in faith that it blinds the Devil himself.   

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