Many years ago, when I was on the hunt for a husband and in a place in my life where I began to see the variety of ways others engaged with God, I decided to give prayer a go. It began as a plea for, what I believed to be, my perfect soul mate. My prayers were laden with requests for specific attributes, character qualities, and mannerisms I found desirable in men. At the time, it did not seem shallow. It was my heart’s cry for God’s assistance with the most important relationship of my life.
As I laid out each appeal, Our Lord would generously answer my prayer with a man fitting my request. After dating each fellow for a short time, I would come to the conclusion that I was, in fact, flawed in my initial plea. Then, again, I would concoct a new formula for the perfect husband for myself. God humored me and sent the men I was seeking. I would joyfully receive every new chap as an answer to prayer, and then each time was extremely confounded when I realized the man was not my heart’s true desire. Man after man, request after request. I am sure God was grinning as He listened and watched.
Finally, after countless prayers and pleas for my ideal husband, I threw in the towel.
Realizing that I had no idea what it was that I truly required, I relented and told God He was free to give me whatever He thought I needed. Angels singing here. Imagine that! Our all-knowing God knew better than me what would be best for me! “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.
Often, we take it upon our imperfect selves to solve the obstacles that come our way. We fail to rely upon our all-knowing, perfect Father heavily enough. Think of all the Saints and how heavily they relied on Our Father. They understood the power of God. Trust and faith, sister, are what they held. The Saints knew having the audacity to ask for the most minute or extensive assistance is not only humbling for us, but also gives great glory to Our Father.
The Saints cried out to Our Heavenly Father, pleading for His aid. They recognized their own littleness and bounded capacity to help themselves. Knowing His limitless power and might, as well as, God’s endless mercy and graces, the Saints wisely turned to Him for all their needs. As humans, we self-attribute more power than we embody. We lean into ourselves instead of the Almighty Father.
Repeatedly feeling guilty for conveying our needs and desires to Our Lord again and again, we try our best to push through and remedy our hardships for ourselves. Our needs seem small compared to the magnitude of concerns and troubles in the world. But Our God cares. He wants you to come to Him with ALL your fears, ALL your troubles, and ALL your worries. He wants you to believe and expect that He will answer your prayer and remedy whatever you lay before Him. God beckons you to boldly ask. Jesus taught his disciples this very concept. “Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.” Mark 11: 22-24.
Know God’s immense power, sister. He brought the dead back to life, cured the sick, healed the blind. Have the faith that the Centurion had, when He trusted that the Lord would heal his slave who was not even present (Luke 7:1-10). Answering prayer is what God does. And if He does not answer right away, do not think He has not heard you. It is just not His time. St. Paul encourages us with his letter to the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18.
Call to Act: Where is there an area in your life where you have been struggling to master or overcome an obstacle? Does it continue to trouble you? Is it a nagging thought in the back of your head or cause you to lose sleep at night? Each time the idea of you resolving it arises, have you turned it over to Our Lord? Persevere in asking. The time will come and your diligence will be rewarded. Your faith and continued prayer will shine in the eyes of the Lord. When we come to Him repeatedly, with certainty in our hearts that He will eventually answer our prayers, His heart smiles at our deep faith, hope, and trust in Him. I encourage you, be courageous, be audacious in your prayers, sister. Persist praying!
“And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours.” 1 John 5: 14-15. Back to my hunt for a husband. When I relented, turned it over to Our Lord, let go of my will, yet continued prayers for my future husband guess who God sent next. My husband. Be assured, He answers our prayers, sister.
St. Catherine of Bologna, pray for us that we can be fervent in our prayer, just as you were through your many years of trials and darkness. Beg the Lord to give us the audacity to ask for His intercession in our lives and in the lives of those we love. Pray that we may become holy as we learn to lean into the Lord in all things, big and small. Ask Him to allow us to feel the depths of His love and grant us perseverance in our prayer. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Saint Catherine of Bologna
St. Catherine grew up in an aristocratic family in Bologna, Italy in the 1400s. Despite her gifts in the arts, she decided to enter the convent when Catherine was a mere 13 years old, feeling a strong calling to religious life. St. Catherine was a humble woman, who willingly served in the most menial roles in the convent. This holy woman and a few others founded a monastery of the Order of Poor Clares in 1432. Eventually she became Superioress of a Community, and then Abbess of a second convent, all while continuing to write and paint. Authoring several books, one of her most popular was the Treatise on the 7 Spiritual Weapons Necessary for Spiritual Warfare. Always fervent and unceasing in prayer, well-known for her austerity and holiness, and eventually miracles attributed to her after her death, it was no shock when her body was uncovered and discovered to be incorrupt. Read more about her here: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=111 and here
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