Praying obtains God’s blessings
1 Kings 18:41-46
Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the
sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and drink, while Elijah climbed
to the top of Carmel, crouched down to the earth, and put his head between his
knees. “Climb up and look out to sea,” he directed his servant, who went up and
looked, but reported, “There is nothing.” Seven times he said, “Go, look
again!” And the seventh time the youth reported, “There is a cloud as small as
a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Elijah said, “Go and say to Ahab, ‘Harness
up and leave the mountain before the rain stops you.’” In a trice the sky grew
dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell. Ahab mounted his chariot and
made for Jezreel. But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, who girded up his clothing
and ran before Ahab as far as the approaches to Jezreel.
Today I want to tell you about the
best friends you’ve never had. These are
people you’ve never met and will never meet on this earth. They are not among your so-called thousands
of friends on Facebook or your faithful followers on Twitter and
Instagram. These are not the people
whose profile perfectly matches yours on eHarmony or match.com waiting to go on
a date with you. They are not the
anonymous masses who read your blogspot with bated breath. They are definitely not the people who send
you emails saying you’ve inherited $10,000,000 from a long-lost relative in
Congo and please just send them your bank account number so they can transfer
the funds. Please. Our best friends, I believe, are those
anonymous, obscure monks and cloistered nuns who pray for us without
ceasing. Closed up in convents and in
monasteries on mountaintops are Carmelites and Carthusians, Trappists and
Benedictines and Cistercians. Night and
day they pray and do penance so God will bless us. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that God’s
blessings hang down from heaven on silken cords, and prayer is the only sword
that can cut those cords. These monks
and nuns are the best friends you’ve never had.
Do you know who is the hero of the
Carmelites? It’s the prophet,
Elijah. In the first reading today he
tells King Ahaz to go and eat while Elijah goes atop Mt. Carmel to pray. How does Elijah pray? It says, “So Ahab went up to eat and drink,
while Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, crouched down to the earth, and put
his head between his knees.” That was
the ancient posture of prayer – like how we kneel at the consecration or while
praying the rosary. He prayed 7 times,
just like religious nuns and monks have 7 set times to pray. And while Ahaz ate and drank, Elijah withdrew
that mighty sword of prayer and obtained rain for the land, just like we eat
and drink while our cloistered friends cut down untold blessings for us each
day. These are the best friends you’ve
never had.
Do you
ever wonder why the world hasn’t ended yet?
I do. We’re in pretty bad
shape. The last century was the
bloodiest in history. We kill over 1.2
million babies by abortion each year.
Dictators ruthlessly dominate their people, ethnic cleansing is rampant
(remember Rwanda?), women and children are being exploited and sold into
slavery. Why are we still here? Because our best friends are asking God to
give us more time to repent and return to him.
Msgr. Rudolph Maus in Fayetteville used to say that all those nuns with
their rosaries and those monks in quiet contemplation are holding back the hand
of God ready to give us our just desserts.
You see, prayer brings us blessings but it also holds back the hand of
God.
Now, are
you still happy I didn’t become a Carmelite monk?
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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