What is the greatest fear that assails us when we pray? Thinking that we will not be heard, that we will find ourselves disappointed and alone, that we won’t get what seems to be good for us. When this fear takes over, then our prayer becomes hesitant, anxious, and intermittent. Indeed, in order not to experience any disappointment, we prefer not even to ask, not to pray anymore.
Here then, in today's Gospel passage, Jesus confronts head-on this fear that can radically ruin our prayer:
And to convince us to do what he says, he uses a very strong argument,
This is an exercise we should do constantly: If we desire something good for ourselves or for those we love, shouldn't we – who are only good every other day – be reassured when we ask for what matters from Him who is always good, and who for this very reason is called "faithful God"?
Does not God surpass us in love and goodness? True prayer is confident prayer, not prayer trying to convince. The basis of prayer is love, not fear.
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Father Luigi Maria Epicoco is a priest of the Aquila Diocese and teaches Philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University and at the ISSR ‘Fides et ratio,’ Aquila. He dedicates himself to preaching, especially for the formation of laity and religious, giving conferences, retreats and days of recollection. He has authored numerous books and articles. Since 2021, he has served as the Ecclesiastical Assistant in the Vatican Dicastery for Communication and columnist for the Vatican’s daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
