All power comes from God. We are NOTHING without Him.
I have been praying for so many intentions over the last few days and weeks and months that it seems that intentions flood into my mind like water. I pray for those who grieve and those who are sick and those alone and addicted and despised and despairing. I pray for my family and yours.
And, as always, the Lost Souls of Purgatory feature in my prayers – prayers for them will never go away.
There is always a temptation to give in and short-cut things when I pray – but I rely on God to hold me firm. My young children have been known to say – “Mum, if I just ask God to get a million Lost Souls out of Purgatory now, then I can have a break from praying.”
I laugh at these suggestions, as I am sure God does too, and focus instead on the steadfastness of prayer – the continuing relentlessness bulldog determination of prayer – the discipline of it, which can do great good.
And for whom is the good awarded?
Certainly, the good is awarded to those for whom we pray, who receive the gift of Grace to help them with all their desires – both those desires that God grants and those that He denies for our eternal good.
But there is another good achieved through prayer to which I am becoming ever increasingly attached. My prayers for others bring me Grace too! No wonder Christ is the ONLY PERFECT SACRIFICE!
No wonder only GOD could be a worthy sacrifice to atone for the offences committed against GOD!
There is literally NOTHING that I could ever perfectly offer to God. Not only are my own weak imperfections a barrier to any sacrifice I make, but God’s infinitely powerful perfection means that through His infinite love for me, He makes every sacrifice turn to MY BENEFIT.
And how could anything possibly be a SACRIFICE if I GAIN from it rather than LOSE from it?
And what is it that I gain?
ETERNAL LIFE!
If I offer of my time, God – for LOVE of me – accepts that offering. But He – who is ETERNAL – has no NEED of my time.
If I offer of my prayers, God – for LOVE of me – accepts that offering. But He – who is COMPLETE – has no NEED of my conversation. And, anyway, through prayer, I gain peace, I gain grace, I gain the reward for my petition. Where is the sacrifice in that?
If I offer my person, God – for LOVE of me – accepts that offering. But He – who is CREATOR – has no need of me. He told us… I AM. Not I will be or I was or I might be, but I AM. That means, unlike me, who is caught in time and space and once was not, God ALWAYS WAS AND IS AND WILL BE. That means God – who is perfect – was prefect before I was created and I offer Him nothing.
But Christ – who is God Himself – could offer to God. Because Christ’s sacrifice is perfect.
When Christ offered time by entering into time and space to suffer and die for love of us – being ETERNAL – it was the perfect sacrifice, because being God Himself, He was not restricted by Time and Space and was not required to enter into this constraint, except through His perfect love for us.
When Christ offered prayers through the mystery of the Holy Trinity – being GOD HIMSELF – it was a perfect sacrifice, because prayer is communication with God and who could communicate more clearly with God than God Himself.
When Christ offered His person through His Passion and Death – being IMMORTAL – it was the perfect sacrifice, because His sacred Body was the Body of God, and only God could be good enough to satisfy God as a perfect sacrifice!
So, when I hear from time to time that my prayers are very powerful or my sacrifices worthy and holy, I am never deluded for a second into believing that this is truth. It is not!
There is NO strength in me!
Any power that people may perceive in me is NOT MINE!
I am the Weakest Child of the One True Infinitely Powerful God.
And even on my darkest days, if I can only remember this, I will know who my Father is. And then – through His POWER alone – I will have the strength to straighten my Crown.
For I am a child of God!
Let all the world rejoice!
For with prayer everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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