God’s Porter
1 John 5.14-21, Ps 149, John 2.1-12
St. André Bessette
St. André Bessette, CSC (1845-1937) was given a life that would at first glance seem unremarkable except for the suffering he had to endure. Orphaned at a young age and sickly for most of his life it seemed that he would not amount to much. Even the Holy Cross order of priests and brothers which accepted Br. André into their midst perhaps only did so as an act of charity. Certainly the post offered to the young brother, a doorkeeper of the order’s school, was not an auspicious beginning to a career in the Church.
But brother André was not about climbing the ladder of worldly success. His gift was that of perfect devotion to God and particularly his trust in his favourite saint, Saint Joseph, the father of Jesus. It was with this trust and his own style of gracious compassion that Br. André recommended so many of the sick and distressed people, whom he met through his humble position, to God’s healing power. In doing so many miracles began to take place.
Br. André’s “success” was not that he was able to do great things but that he had great trust. He emulated the words of St. John who said, “If we ask anything according to God’s will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him”.
The very first miracle of Jesus’ public life came about as the result of a request. His mother, knowing that the wine at the wedding reception was running low brought the impending embarrassment to the attention of her son. Jesus’ response was curious. “What business is that of mine?” he said. His mother’s reply was, “Make it your business!”, and with perfect trust she turned to the stewards of the party and said, “Do whatever he tells you.”
It is in this relationship, the intercessory role of Mary and the Grace of her son Jesus, in which our faith tradition places its trust in the power of prayer. We believe that God hears our prayers and answers us in our need through Christ our Lord. Do you ask God for what you need? Do you pray to God for the needs of others?
Sometimes it may seem that God does not hear our prayers. We become discouraged when what we pray for does not seem to be forthcoming. It is particularly difficult when we pray for someone we love who is going through illness or a difficult time. But our faith tells us that God does hear and our prayers are answered. Perhaps our prayers are not answered in the way that we ask but, more importantly, God responds in the way that we need. An open heart helps us to see God’s hand at work in these difficult moments and quite often we find that grace at work in the presence of others who reach out to us in our need.
