In her testimony to St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila tells us that she never knew a time when she had turned to St. Joseph in great need and he did not provide, or corrected her petition when she was not praying right.
In this Sunday’s Gospel, we again encounter the request of James and John, the son’s of Zebedee as they approach our Lord to request that they be seated at his right and his left when he sits on his throne in the Kingdom. He responds by telling them that those seats have been prepared for others. But didn’t our Lord also promise that whatsoever we ask for in his name shall be granted? Even if there were two to whom those seats were promised, couldn’t he add two more seats? After all, he did not say that they were not worthy of these seats.
The question of unanswered prayers is one of our greatest struggles from the very beginning. For many without faith, it seems all too convenient for us to record Christ as promising “Whatever two or more ask in my name shall be given,” yet, when it goes ungiven, simply say, “It’s in God’s time”.
It seems that when our sincere and heartfelt prayers go unanswered, we tend to two responses: Either we blame ourselves for having prayed wrongly or being unworthy of God’s response, or we blame Him for not answering us.
In the moments of unanswered prayers, pray for the faith and vision of St. Teresa, knowing that there were also times in her life, when she too doubted whether or not God was listening, and we can likely imagine that earlier in life, she wasn’t always so confident in the work of St. Joseph. But this confidence came later, and it is what we see today.
She shows us that even one on the path to Sainthood needs correction; even the Sons of Thunder, who appear to have been worthy to sit at Jesus’ side needed correction. It’s not about blame, it’s about seeing more with the eyes of God. And as Teresa reaffirms, in the correction, we find fulfillment. We are often like children asking for ice cream for supper when our father wants to give us steak.
This is especially difficult in times of severe pain and suffering, or when we see our children suffer away from the Church. Why won’t God take this pain away; why has he abandoned my son?
When we pray and He does not give, often times His response to us is: Can you drink from the cup that I will drink? He is leading us toward seeing as he sees. Like James and John, we tend toward doubling down, rather than reconsidering. Try asking for the strength to endure, or the wisdom to understand, or the knowledge of His ways; or simply: Tell me Lord, what should I be asking for?