Hope Hope Hope

He has done great things for us, we are filled with joy. He will do great things for us, we rejoice in expectation. But those great things don’t just happen to us: we need to do our part. The Lord will come to save us, but we need to “prepare the way of the Lord.” We hope to obtain from God what we cannot do by ourselves, but we cannot expect it with crossed arms: we have to work. We cannot say, “God is good, He will feed me: I don’t want to work.” “God is good, he will make me wise: I don’t want to study.” “God is good, He will make me a saint: I don’t need to pray more or avoid the occasions of sins.” If we want God to help us, we need to do what He says, we need to do what we can, so that He does what only He can do: “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

It is discouraging sometimes, for me as a priest and, I imagine for you too, to see that our churches are not full, that our parishes are not growing much, or even diminishing. It is discouraging to see so much evil in society, in education, in the media, in politics, sports, etc. What is our reaction to this? Sometimes we explain it away. “It is common, we think, that young people don’t care too much about the Church, it is what happens nowadays. Before it was not like this, but now it is so, times change.” “They will come back to Church later in life…” Some people come back to God in their old age, but other people do not. And some people do not arrive at their old age. To get old is not an assurance of conversion. And to leave the Church does not help, if we want to be saved. So, I know that “it happens”: some people do not come to church. But, is there really nothing we can do?

Sometimes, when something goes wrong in the world or in the Church, we pray to God to fix it, and wait for Him to come down from heaven and destroy evil and evil people, with fire, lightning or something like that, and then go back to heaven telling us “If you have any other problem, just call me, this is my cellphone, I will come and fix it for you.” God does not do that. A good father does not do for his children what the children can do for themselves: a good father helps his children in those things which his children are not able to do without his help. Have we really done all we could do? Do we want to do something more?

You may say: “Now, what else could we do? Can we do anything, except praying?”

This is the point, and this is when God’s Plan begins to unfold as a masterpiece. Each one of you has something else to do. That is why you are alive. Each one of you has a task which is personal and unique to you, just as a painting is made up of different colours, each with its own contribution to the painting. You are members of the Church, which is a body, and in a body every member contributes to the life of the whole. You certainly have something else to do. You certainly, as a member of this body, are meant to help the Church live. What is your task? What can you do to make a difference in the Church and in the world?

If we want to make a difference, the first thing is to pray. We all pray. Why is it that sometimes our prayers “do not work”? First reason, because we do not do the will of God in our lives, or we are in a state of a mortal sin, or we do not want to grow in our spiritual life. If you go to a friend for whom you have done a lot, and you ask him for something, he will probably give it to you, because you have done so much for him. But if you go to someone you hurt, someone you don’t like, or someone with whom you don’t get along very well, that person will probably send you off empty-handed. “Well, I do break this or that commandment, but I love God, so He will always hear my prayers.” The Scripture says: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). So, if we want our prayers to be heard, the first thing is to repent of our sins and try to change our lives. The first way to help Church renewal is to renew our own lives and our own relationship with God. We all can do better. As long as we are alive, we can always grow in the love of God. Are we concerned with changing lives and growing in God’s love? Advent is a time of conversion!

The second reason our prayers do not work, is because we do not pray well. Sometimes we pray without faith: we are not sure whether God can do it, or whether there is a God at all who hears what we say. Sometimes we pray without confidence: we are not sure that God is really so good as to pay attention to what we say, we are not sure that God really wants to help us. Sometimes we ask for the wrong thing: like children asking for things that are not good for them. Sometimes we pray without humility, without recognizing how much we need God, without realizing that in front of Him we cannot claim “rights”. Sometimes we pray without a real desire, or without a strong desire. We pray for peace, but not as if the war were here in Canada. We pray for the conversion of sinners, but not as if they were our own children, and not as if hell were a real danger for them. We pray for more vocations to the priesthood, but not as if we had no one to say the Mass for us. We pray without real desire, we pray without love. God wants us to pray better, and He might be waiting for us to pray better so that He can give us what we need. If we try to pray better, we will become better people, because to pray well is to have a strong faith, a strong confidence in God, and a great humility, and most importantly a great love. This is what God wants: that we become better people. Because when we are better people, we are happier, and God wants our happiness.

So, we each have a task in the renewal of the Church and of our parish community. The first task is to pray better: to repent of our sins and ask for forgiveness, and to pray in a better way, that is, with faith, with confidence, with humility and with a great desire. What is your task . . . ? What is the sin which prevents your prayers from being accepted . . . ? Do you pray with confidence, and with a real desire of obtaining what you want . . . ? If we just pray better, half the battle is won. Next week we will reflect on actions.

In the first reading we heard, “Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem [or we could hear, “Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Parish, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.” (Baruch 5:1ff) How much more beautiful our parish could be! We can certainly make a difference. Actually, only God can do it… but He is waiting for our help. Let us help. Let us hope. Let us pray. God is with us!