Daily Meditation: Sunday, October 3, 2004

Prayers - what we must ask God in our Prayers

10/03/2004

One day a priest was addressing his parishioners, the majority of whom were very rich. He said to them: ‘Brothers, as you can see, our church is old and needs to be restored. But it will be very expensive, so let us think what we can do.' In one voice the parishioners replied that they were going to pray to God so that He might help them raise the necessary money. ‘What?' said the indignant priest, ‘you are millionaires, and yet you wish to bother God for a sum of money you can easily find yourselves!' Well, that is the notion of prayer held by many of the faithful: they ask that their affairs be arranged by divine intervention, when they could very well manage themselves if they decided to do what needs to be done. When they are in an altruistic mood, they pray for peace in the world, or for less poverty, but here again, God Himself must intervene. And this is why wars and poverty continue: because human beings delegate to God work they themselves should buckle down to. They must ask God only for light, so that they may always be inspired.