Enemy of the Best

Learning to believe in order to receive

03/09/2017

Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus said to his disciples: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets."

          Several years ago I attended a dinner to raise money for our diocesan seminarians called “Taste of Faith.” Many of you have gone to them as well. Msgr. Scott Friend, the vocation director, related the story of going to the hospital to anoint Joseph Chan after his nearly life-ending car accident. Joseph was teetering between life and death when Msgr. Friend arrived at the hospital together with a local priest in St. Louis. The local priest sounded skeptical when he said, “Yeah, he’s probably not going to make it.” Msgr. Friend fired back, “Well, then it’s a good thing I’m the one giving him the Anointing of the Sick, isn’t it?”  In other words, have a little faith in the power of prayer, and in God’s love for his children. Believe and you will receive. And where is Joseph Chan today? He’s a healthy and holy priest serving faithfully in Little Rock.

          Last Sunday, Dr. Henry Udouj passed out during Mass, actually during my homily on stewardship. Someone said it was just at the moment I said, “Can’t you give a little more this year?” that Henry collapsed. In any event, while we waited for the ambulance to arrive, the congregation prayed the rosary together. By the end of the second glorious mystery, Henry was able to walk out of the church on his own power, and smiled and waved at me letting me know he was okay; or maybe he was just happy he got to leave early during my stewardship sermon. Prayer uttered in faith is powerful because it invokes the name of a loving God to bless his children. Believe and you will receive.

          In the gospel today, Jesus urges his disciples to do the same: to pray with faith and believe that they will receive. He says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” In the case of Joseph Chan and Henry Udouj that’s exactly what happened. We asked for healing, and healing was given to them. But what about all those times when it seems God’s answer is “no” and we do not receive what we ask for? And that seems to be the case more often than not. God sounds like Meghan Trainor who sang, “My name is ‘No,’ My sign is ‘No,’ My number is ‘No,’ You need to let it go, You need to let it go.”

          To answer that objection, Jesus adds: “If you, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who seek him?” That is, when God says “No” to something we request it’s because he wants to give us something better. God says “no” to nature in order to give us grace; he denies us the natural to give us the supernatural; he holds back earthly goods in order to give us heavenly blessings. An ancient aphorism teaches: “Sometimes the good can become the enemy of the best.” Prayer of faith invokes the name of a loving God, who sometimes says “no” to the good thing we request but only so he can say “yes” to the best things he has in store for us. Believe and you will receive...the best.

          My friends, this is the spirit in which we need to pray, and pray with confidence. Why? The prayer of faith invokes the name of a loving God who wants to open the flood gates of heaven so his blessings rain down upon us. So go ahead and ask to win the Chicago lottery, plead to make the big business deal, pray for a cure for cancer, seek healing for your marriage, ask for your children to be rich and famous, beg God the priest will give shorter sermons (fat chance), pray for more rain and pray for more sunshine, and ask to stop world hunger. Ask for anything; ask for everything. But realize that when God sounds like Meghan Trainor and says “No” to something good, it’s because he wants to give you the best. Believe and you will receive, just like Joseph Chan and Henry Udouj did. But also remember the little ancient aphorism when you pray: don’t let the good become the enemy of the best.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!