Day 338: Intercession and Thanksgiving (2634-2638)
It’s Day 338!!
Hopefully we are talking about something that we all do on a regular basis
This type of prayer goes all the way back to the beginning of time
Fr. Mike is giving a quick mini-review of what we have covered so far in this Pillar so let’s listen…
PRAYER OF INTERCESSION
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory in your name, you Father, you Son, you Holy Spirit. We lift up our voices and our hearts. We gently turn our hearts towards you, embracing every moment, embracing everything you allow to come our way. We turn our hearts to you, our minds to you, our attention to you and embrace everything that you are and everything that you have brought into our lives. Lord God, we pray for others, and we give you thanks this day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”
So there we have it!!
Paragraph 2364 says, “Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father on behalf of all men, especially sinners. He is ‘able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.’ The Holy Spirit ‘himself intercedes for us…and intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.’”
In some mysterious way, we have a share in Jesus’ mediation with the Father
Paragraph 2635 says, “Since Abraham, intercession-asking on behalf of another-has been characteristic of a heart attuned to God’s mercy. In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ’s, as an expression of the communion of saints. In intercession, he who prays looks ‘not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others,’ even to the point of praying for those who do him harm.”
Remember the story of Abraham?
Let’s listen to Fr. Mike tell us this story again…
He interceded on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorroah because he was attuned to God’s mercy
Paragraph 2636 says, “The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely. Thus the Apostle Paul gives them a share in his ministry of preaching the Gospel but also intercedes for them. The intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries: ‘for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions,’ for persecutors, for the salvation of those who reject the Gospel.”
We should intercede on behalf of each other
It is good to ask the saints to pray for us
Non-Catholic Christians and others wonder why we ask the Saints to pray for us because the Bible says we should not communicate with the dead
We Catholics do not communicate with the dead
That would be things like necromancy, seances, etc.
Jesus revealed to the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees that God is the God of the living, not the dead
All those who die in Christ, are not dead
THEY ARE ALIVE!!
When we pray to them and ask for their prayers on our behalf or on behalf of someone else, it is not the same thing as communicating with them
It is not necromancy
It is not a seance
It is praying in the spirit of Jesus and in the name of Jesus to those who have died and now live in Jesus
Every Christian asks for others to pray for them
You will not find a Christian who will tell that person to go and talk to God alone
Every Christian would say, “Of course I’ll pray for you!”
No one in that moment ever says, “Wait! There is only ONE mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus Christ.”
But when we Catholics say we have a devotion to St. Anthony etc., we regularly ask saints for prayers, some non-Catholics will say that is condemned
It is not because we belong to the communion of saints
The Letter to the Hebrews says, “...we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses…”
This cloud of witnesses has gone before us and now live in the presence of God
The Letter of James says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful.”
Who is more righteous than those who have been made righteous by the grace of God and are in God’s presence at this very moment?
The Communion of Saints intercedes on our behalf
That is part of what brings joy to the saints in Heaven, their ability to pray for us and intercede for us
That should also bring joy to us in our lives
We are called to intercede, while we are living, to pray for each other and to pray for the needs of people close to us and far away from us
Paragraph 2637 says, “Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. Indeed, in the work of salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and makes it return to the Father, for his glory. The thanksgiving of the members of the Body participates in that of their Head.”
EUCHARISTIA is Greek for THANKSGIVING
Every event and every need can become and offering of thanksgiving
IN ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS!!
St. Paul says in 1 Thess 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
If we are going through a rough time we can pray, “Thank you God for this time, this is purifying me.”
If we are going through grief we can pray, “God, I thank you.”
Grief can break us and break our hearts
It changes our lives when we lose someone
The depth of that grief matches up with the depth of our love
The deeper we loved, the deeper the sadness and sorrow and grief
The more we loved, the more we feel the loss
This is not meant to short circuit our emotions
But in some ways, even in the midst of grief and loss, there is room for thanksgiving
Even when I don’t have that person, I only have this sense of loss because I loved
I only miss them because they loved me
I only have this grief because they were such a great gift
This can lead us to a place of thanksgiving in all circumstances
And that is powerful
Every event and every need can become an offering of thanksgiving
What are you thankful in this moment?
Can you look at your life and genuinely find God’s presence and goodness and the gift in the midst of the grief and give thanks?
Because we know that this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us
It is a tall order
It is what we are called to do
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT…