Natural Family Planning International

Does anyone else ever have to remind himself or herself that we pray our prayers of petition because the Lord has told us to do so?  Bear with me as I explain my problem. 

If we are really conscious of being God’s creatures and that we would not exist if not for his creative power, then it is simply a matter of good manners, so to speak, to offer prayers of thanksgiving for life itself, for the saving work of the Lord Jesus, and for every other gift He has given us. 

If we are truly conscious of the infinite distance between God and us and if we give any heed to the first three Commandments of the Decalogue, the ones dealing with God Himself, then it only makes sense to offer prayers of adoration.  Given our underlying incompleteness, everyone worships someone or something.  St. Paul in Romans 1 speaks unhappily about those who “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever!” (vs:25).  The common idols of today are sex and money.  It seems to me that a person doesn’t have to be particularly “churchy” to recognize these things and the need to make the worship of the living God our first priority. 

And if we recognize our sinfulness, it only makes sense to offer prayers and sacrifices in reparation for our sins. 

But what about prayers of petition?  In one sense, these come quite naturally to a person who recognizes God as God of the universe.  For example, we saw full churches for a few days immediately after the tragedy of 9-11.  On the other hand, and this is the problem that keeps coming back to me, the believer knows that God already knows infinitely better than we do what we need and what is good for us, whether that applies to us personally, or to our family, or to the nation or to the whole world.  So why do the writers of the New Testament and the Lord Jesus tell us to pray, and even to pray always?  It’s not as if we are going to tell God something He doesn’t already know.

In my opinion, our human need to offer the prayer of petition stems from two other basic human needs.  First, we need to acknowledge repeatedly that God is the Giver of all good gifts and that He has the power to bring good out of evil, to heal the sick, and to bring about the conversion of sinners.  At the same time, we need to recognize that He has his own timetable and that only He knows what is best for any individual person.  One person’s sickness may be the opportunity for others to grow in holiness by their generous service to the one in need. 

Second, we need to spend some time in prayer, including the prayer of petition.  By using our precious time in prayer, we demonstrate to God and to ourselves that we think that prayer is important.  Doesn’t our use of time tell God and ourselves and our loved ones what is really important to us?  For example, if Sunday recreation is more important to us than Sunday worship, doesn’t that send a message?  If we keep telling ourselves we don’t have any time for prayer, doesn’t that send a message to God and confirm other priorities in our own minds? 

Please take the time, even if only a few moments, to pray daily for a rebirth of chastity, for a stop to contraception and abortion, and for a culture of life.  This, of course, is implicitly also a prayer for the acceptance of Humanae Vitae and for the acceptance of systematic natural family planning when couples have a sufficiently serious reason to postpone or avoid pregnancy beyond the natural spacing of ecological breastfeeding.   

The Mass is the perfect prayer that encompasses all four forms of prayer.  It is called the Eucharistic Sacrifice.  “Eucharist” means thanksgiving.  The Mass starts with an acknowledgement of our sins; it is clearly a prayer of reparation for sin.  It is a prayer of adoration, and it is a prayer of petition.  The obligation to worship at Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation is for our benefit, not for God’s. 

Properly understood, worship at Mass is a great reality check that affirms our relationship with God.  That is, in reality, we ought to offer thanksgiving, adoration, reparation for our sins, and petition for all of our needs, both physical and spiritual. 

Lent is a wonderful time to worship at Mass every day if that is possible. 

Next week we will take a look at a “Prayer before Mass” that can help at least some of us to keep these four purposes of the Mass more clearly in our minds and intentions.  

John F. Kippley
Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality