God is the source of justice for those wronged by the world. While our faith must be lived outside the church doors, do we really make our own the bidding prayers of the Mass? What are the intentions that we bring to the Eucharist? Do we really believe that God hears and answers prayers? Some critics think that we are just talking to ourselves and making a wish-list that will never be realized. Of course, the Lord is not a genie from a lamp. His response to prayer, not wishes, is not to serve selfishness but charity, compassion, peace and truth.
If we belong to the Lord then we should witness in faith to his justice. The world resists and does not want to change. Jesus laments, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
If we want our petitions answered, do we respond to the cries of the poor?
Do we pray for courage so as to live out a heroic witness as signs of contradiction?
Do we ask for the grace to love and forgive as Jesus does, even those who hate and hurt us?
Do we pray for enemies, as well as for friends and loved ones?
Do we pray for the living and the dead?
Are our petitions devoid of selfishness?
Do we pray for the salvation of souls, vocations and the sanctity of life?
Are we emissaries praying for the wounded world?
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