All of us
continually make prayers of petition. We ask for what we need:
exams, relationships, money worries, work, whatever it is; we ask God
for help and expect to be answered and rightly so, since God has told
us that we should ask him for what we need. Jesus even says it in
this Gospel reading: “…the Father will give you anything you ask
him in my name.” But if you go back a few lines he says something
else. The Lord says, “If you keep my commandments you will remain
in my love… and then the Father will give you anything you ask him
in my name.” God asks us to keep his commandments first, because
that’s how it is in any relationship. You ask someone you love for
something and you know that they will do their best to give it to
you, or do it for you, because of your love for each other, but the
love for each other is there first. You don’t ask favors from
complete strangers, at least not often. You ask people you love.
Love brings
with it obedience and faithfulness. A couple who love each other try
to obey each other and try to be faithful to each other and then
their love grows and as the love grows they know they can rely on
each other for what they need. Our love for God is the same. The more
we come to know God, the more we know that we can rely on him for
what we need, because it is based on a loving relationship, with a
real person, the person of Jesus. Our faith is not just about believe
in a ‘thing’, or an idea, but in a person, the person of Jesus.
We cannot expect God to answer our prayers if we are not willing to
do as God asks. What kind of a relationship would that be? It would
be just one person using the other. If our relationship with someone
we love was only about asking for what we need, what kind of a
relationship would that be? It wouldn’t be a relationship at all,
rather, the abuse of another person.
Jesus says,
“If you love me you will keep my commandments.” In other words,
this is how we show God that we love him, by trying to be obedient to
him. What are his commandments? Love God, respect his name, keep
Sunday holy, honor you parents, don’t kill, steal, don’t commit
adultery or lie. If we aren’t prepared to try to keep these
commandments of God, can we still expect him to give us what we ask?
Would you expect your husband or wife, or someone you love, to do
things for you, if you refused to do what they asked you? Of
course not.
The important
thing to remember is this: God loves us first and that is where we
get the strength to do as he asks us. ‘You did not choose me. I
chose you.’ What we have to do, is be open in our hearts. You may
find yourself saying “It’s very hard to keep the commandments.
It’s very hard to try and love your neighbor as yourself. It’s
very hard to keep Sunday as a holy day. It is not realistic.”
You’re right, it is practically impossible to live as God asks, if
you rely on your own strength, but we are not expected to. We rely on
God’s strength for these things. It’s called grace and that’s
what makes the difference. I could not live as a celibate man by my
own strength. I rely on God’s help every day. I ask for God’s
help, every day. We cannot say it’s too hard, because we have God’s
strength to help us. But how do we get this help, this grace? We get
it from prayer. There are 24 hours in a day, no one can say they
can’t spare 20 minutes for God. If you do, it just means you have
no interest, no love for God. We get it from fasting, making
sacrifices. Lent isn’t the only time to fast. One day a week we can
eat less, or don’t watch TV, or give up something you like, until
it hurts. We get this strength especially from the Eucharist. Receive
Jesus often if you want to grow in the spirit. We get it from reading
the Scriptures, where God speaks to us. We get it through spending
time with Jesus in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We get it
through confession, when we are healed of our sins.
God
constantly offers us this strength, but we have to open our hearts to
him. Then you will find a strength that you didn’t know existed;
strength to love God, strength to keep his commandments, strength to
love other people. We turn to God first to receive from him, then we
can live as he asks.
‘If you
love me you will keep my commandments.’
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