When you pray, what do you ask for?
How confident are you in the Lord when you pray?
Do you believe God hears you and desires to bless you in your ways?
In the first reading today, God appears to Solomon in a dream and invites him to “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”
In this moment, what would you ask for? If you knew God could give you anything you ask for, what would it be?
A new car? A new house? A million dollars?
Would what you ask for be focused on your good alone or on the good of the other?
In realizing his own limitations and the needs of the people God has chosen him to serve, Solomon asks for something that will positively impact the people of God: “an understanding heart and the ability to distinguish right from wrong.” Because Solomon looked beyond his own needs into the needs of others, God blessed him with a good, holy heart filled with wisdom and understanding that would help generations to come.
“Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”
Blessed Solanus Casey, a modern saint in the making, was a Capuchin Franciscan from Detroit, who lived by the saying: “Thank God ahead of time.” Basically, he was saying whatever you ask for in prayer, pray in confidence and thanksgiving that God will answer your prayer. By praying this way, we boast in our awesome, caring, compassionate God who loves us so much. Whatever you find yourself praying for, thank God ahead of time for what God is going to do in your life.
“Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”
Just the other day, I was talking with Fr. Bline about the seminary and all things parish. After the phone conversation, the thought came to me that we as a parish should be praying for Fr. Bline as he enters this new life at the seminary. While I am sure all of you are praying for him, especially in thanksgiving for his ministry, his goodness, and ultimately the love he shared with all of you, I want to invite our parish to pray a novena for Fr. Bline leading up to the beginning of seminary.
In light of this, I asked Fr. Bline what novena he would like us to pray for him. He chose a novena to St. John Vianney, the patron of priests.
So beginning on the feast day of St. John Vianney, August 4, please join me in praying this novena for Fr. Bline every evening at 7:00pm in the Church. If you cannot make it, please pray it at home. It will be a good time to pray for him, to give thanks to God for him and to thank God ahead of time for how God will bless him and the seminarians in the days ahead. The novena will be provided in next week’s bulletin.
“Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”
God’s peace and joy be with you,
Fr. Jeremy Merzweiler
