Nov 13: Prayer Changes, not God, but the Person who Prays

Paul Gauguin: A Breton Woman at Prayer


Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin
Gospel: Lk 18:1-8

"Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart (NRSV, Lk 18:1)."

Lord God, you are the unchangeable One, yet we cry out to you to come to our assistance, to grant us favor after favor, to overcome our ills and satisfy all of our needs. Still you remain the One who cannot change, who cannot respond to what we ask of you because to respond would make you other than who you are in your ever-present now. Your act is identical with who you are, the unchangeable One. From all eternity, in the same one act, you pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

It is we who pray, not you, who must respond. It is we who must change. Our prayers to you which give you praise and glory and thanksgiving must also sensitize us to accept that one gift which you give to us in every time and place, a share in your own divine life. That gift of life always brings with it forgiveness for our sins if we will only accept it. It also brings with it power to transform ourselves and the world around us.

In our prayer to you, O Lord, we are often concerned about the needs of others, their spiritual and temporal needs. You offer your life to all. We who pray must learn to accept it ourselves and mediate it to others even as they mediate it to us. The power to overcome the ills of world is given. It has always been given. In our prayer all of us who are human must learn to accept the one gift which you, Lord, pour out upon us. All of us together must learn to use the gift of your divine life to grow mutually in you as we overcome evil in the world. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.