CHRIST, THE BESTOWER OF ALL GOOD GIFTS.

"Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear me, for I am needy and poor." (Ps. 81:1)

I.

Christ tells his Disciples in the Gospel of the present Sunday: "Hitherto you have not asked any thing in my name, ask, and you shall receive." (John 16:24) Imagine yourself, on one hand, to be a poor, forlorn, naked beggar, standing in need of everything necessary for your spiritual life, and Christ, on the other, infinitely rich, infinitely liberal, and desirous of making you a partaker of His bounty. Listen to His solemn invitation: "Ask, and you shall receive." Never did the most bounteous sovereign make so liberal a promise. "Come over to Me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with My fruits." (Ecclus. 24:26) He is more willing to give than we are to receive.

II.

This bountiful Lord will visit you today in the Eucharist, and if you be grateful in His sight, He will say to you, as King Assuerus did to Esther: "What is thy petition, Esther, that it may be granted thee, and what wilt thou have done? Although thou askest half my kingdom, thou shalt have it." (Est. 7:2) Examine what you stand most in need of, and be ready with your petition, as Esther was. Adorn your soul, as she did her person, in order that you may please your Lord when He comes.

III.

There are impediments, which will render your petitions of no avail. 1. "God doth not hear sinners." (John 9:31) As long, then, as you persist in sin, you will not be heard. 2. He does not grant the request of those who pray for vain and unprofitable things; but dismisses their petition with a rebuke: "You know not what you ask." (Matt. 20:22) 3. Those are unheard, who pray with tepidity: "Because thou art lukewarm, I will begin to vomit thee out of My mouth." (Apoc. 3:16) Your Lord requires perseverance and constancy in your prayer. He who perseveres in knocking will receive the loaves, even for his importunity, as many as he needeth. (cf. Luke 11:8)

THE BENEFIT OF PRAYER. I.

I.

We are continually invited by the Church to pray, particularly during these rogation days. The dignity and excellence of prayer are very great. Prayer is an act of religious worship offered to God, and accepted by Him, as sacrifice and incense, according to the expression of David: "Let my prayer be directed as incense in Thy sight; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice." (Ps. 140:2) By prayer we become companions of the Angels, and treat familiarly with God Himself. God conceives Himself honored by our prayers, as He tells us by His Prophet: "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." (Ps. 49:15)

II.

In consequence of the miseries of this mortal life, and its continual dangers, prayer is essentially necessary for us. The life of our soul is in constant peril from the devil, who is "as a roaring lion, going about, seeking whom he may devour," (1 Pet. 5:8), and from the allurements of pleasure, which continually assail us. Our mortal life is never exempt from dangers, arising from war, famine and pestilence, from sickness, loss of goods, from the death of our friends, and from innumerable other crosses and afflictions. Hence, we ought to address our Lord in the language of king Josaphat: "As we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to Thee." (2 Chron. 20:12)

III.

By His general providence, God might have redressed all our evils and necessities, without our having recourse to Him by prayer. This is His conduct in relation to every other creature. But, in order to endear us the more to Him, He has decreed that we should beg these favors from Him, and thus show our dependence on Him, and acknowledge Him to be the author of all good. Hence, He has given us an express command, and enforced it by His Son Jesus Christ, who teaches us, that "we ought always to pray." (Luke 18:1) Reflect upon your spiritual and temporal necessities, "and go with confidence to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid." (Heb.4:16)

THE BENEFIT OF PRAYER. II.

I.

Consider more in particular the benefits and efficacy of this holy exercise. St. Jerome says of it: "It overcomes the invincible, and bindeth down the Almighty;" that is, it interests His mercy in our behalf, and ties down the hands of His justice from punishing us. "Let Me alone," said God to Moses, when he was praying for the people, "that My wrath may be kindled against them." (Exod. 32:10) Prayer is a general resource against all difficulties and temptations, and as St. Prosper says, "is a scourge to the devil." Moses, by lifting up his hands in prayer, obtained victory for the children of Israel over the Amalecites. (Exod. 17:11) Josue, by his prayers, obtained from God that the day should be lengthened, by making the sun and moon appear to stand still, "the Lord obeying the voice of man." (Jos. 10:14) With how much more reason may we hope for spiritual blessings, when we fervently pray for them!

II.

"Prayer," says St. Augustine, "is the key of heaven," because it procures for us every heavenly blessing. By it we receive the spirit of God; for Christ says: "Your Father from heaven will give the good spirit to them that ask Him." (Luke 11:13) Prayer increases sanctifying grace, and procures us more frequent supplies of actual grace. It strengthens our virtues, and every supernatural gift. Our faith, besides, in this holy exercise is enlivened, our hopes are invigorated, and our charity inflamed. For in prayer we acknowledge God to be the author of our faith, the foundation of our hope, and the object of our affections.

III.

All these favors, and whatever else we can desire for our spiritual goods, our Lord is readier to bestow, than we to ask. "It shall come to pass," He says, "that before their call, I will hear, as they are yet speaking I will hear." (Isa. 65:24) If we do not obtain what we ask for, the reason is either because we offer Him undue petitions, or do not pray in the manner in which we ought. Even in refusing this kind of petitions, God shows His mercy to us; "for in His mercy," observes St. Augustine, "He denies those things which He could not grant but in His wrath." Be grateful to the giver of all good gifts, for the privilege of addressing Him in prayer, and on all occasions take advantage of it.

THE BENEFIT OF PRAYER. III.

I.

In order to receive the advantages resulting from prayer, we must know how to pray. "Before prayer," says the Wise Man, "prepare thy soul." (Ecclus. 18:23) This preparation consists: 1. In prostrating ourselves with all humility of heart before our God, and in acknowledging our unworthiness to appear in His pure sight, as did the publican, and the centurion in the Gospel. "He hath regard to the prayers of the humble, and hath not despised their petition." (Ps. 101:18) And "the prayer of him that humbleth himself, shall pierce the clouds." (Ecclus. 35:21) To pray well, we must, in the second place, be in peace and charity with our neighbors, and pardon all their offences against us. "When you shall stand to pray, forgive, if you have any thing against any man." (Mark 11:25) 3. We must feel for the distresses of our fellow-men. "He that stoppeth His ear against the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself, and shall not be heard." (Prov. 21:13)

II.

To pray well, we must observe the conditions which our Divine Legislator has imposed. "When thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and, having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret." (Matt. 6:6) We must retire from all distracting objects, and shut the doors of our senses. We must pray "in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23) We must seriously apply our minds, and our hearts must be in unison with the petition of our lips, else we shall be ranked in the number of those to whom Christ applied the words of the prophet: "This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." (Matt. 15:8) We must, in fine, entertain a lively faith and confidence; for your Savior has said "All things, whatsoever you ask, when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you." (Mark 11:24)

III.

There are three grounds upon which this confidence ought to be built: 1. The love which the eternal Father bears us. Christ said: "The Father Himself loveth you." (John 16:27) He who bestowed on you His only begotten Son surely will not refuse to grant your earnest entreaty when you pray for blessings. 2. The merits and passion of the Son, who is our Mediator and Advocate, and who assures us: "Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My name, that will I do." (John 14:13) 3. The Holy Ghost himself intercedes for us, for St. Paul says: "The Spirit himself asketh for us, with unspeakable groanings." (Rom. 8:26)