A message from our pastor - Fr. Tim Johnson
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July 28, 2025“Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. ”Michael Pennock has devoted his life to our Catholic faith via his profession as a teacher. He has edited and written different books concerning our faith, and maintained an open heart to Christ Jesus via his classroom work with teenagers; their questions and struggles and desire to search for the Real Presence in their lives have challenged his own faith. In his book, Answers to 101 questions Teens Always Ask, he seeks a conversation with youth about God, Christ Jesus, the workings of the Holy Spirit, the Sacraments, and the journey of faith. As he answers the question, ‘How should I pray, ’he offers this. “Become aware of God’s presence all around you. God holds you in the palm of his hand . . . .Approach God as you would a friend. . .and prayer is essentially a conversation. . . .Prayer is praise and thanking God for the gifts you have received, and sorrow for your sins, selfishness, your lack of attention to other people and God. Now you are to take your concerns to the Lord. . .speaking to God as a child would to a loving parent. Remember to pray for your family, friends and relatives and neighbors in need, and the poor/needy. Prayer also involves listening to God, [within a time of silence]. Look over your past day, the people, encounters, the successes and the failures. . . .Stop and listen to your life. . . .Some find it helpful to read scripture from the readings of the day. (With this understanding, the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary and other form prayers are a perfectly natural way of conversing with God.)As our gospel passage reminds us, ask it shall be granted. Thus, we must be persistent in our prayers, finding a common time within our day to be present in prayer with God. If we harbor grudges, judgments of others, our time within God will not be fruitful. Michael Pennock goes on to answer the question, “God never answers my prayers, so why should I bother praying?” But He does, more often than not according to His will, but always for our own wellbeing. An anonymous author explains God’s replies to our prayers: I asked for strength that I might achieve; He made me weak that I might obey. I asked for health that I might do great things; He gave me grace that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; He gave me poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of me; He gave me weakness that I might feel a need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; He gave me life that I might enjoy all things. I received nothing I had asked for; He gave me all I had hoped for. God answers “sincere” prayers, but quite often in ways we might not at first understand. Basil Pennington, a Trappist Monk, who has written articles concerning our relationship with God, asks us to consider the following. “God will give us whatever we want, asking in prayer—what we truly want, not what we say we want or even think we want. God listens to the heart, not the lips. . . .If God seems to be saying ‘No’ to some prayers, it is because he is saying ‘Yes’ to the deepest prayer of our hearts. From my personal perspective, it can be unsettling at times to enter into silence within a time of prayer. Far easier to recite a roll call of form prayers; but God desires us to listen. And though distracting thoughts may race through our minds, God patiently waits. Often time a simple repeated‘ mantra ’brings us back to silence, such as: “Be still and know that I am God. ”Finally, C.S. Lewis offers a good understanding of the‘ calling’“to forgive those who trespass against us.” “Forgive us ….As we forgive….To forgive for the moment is not difficult. But to go on forgiving, to forgive the same offense again every time it recurs to the memory---there’s the real tussle.”God Bless, Fr. Tim
FYI: ‘Dog days of summer ’are upon us, thus Groucho Marx provides a lighthearted comment: “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”