Thursday of the
First Week of Lent
(Esther C12:14-16; 23-25; Matthew 7:7-12)
Why do people pray? The age-old question is probably made
more by unbelievers than by believers. Still, the faithful need to ask themselves
if they think that they might change God’s will by their efforts. Is He not changeless? If so, then why bother to seek His help?
Yet prayer is the most urgent of Christian actions. Christians cannot help but pray because it is
the Holy Spirit that is prompting them to pray from within. Their prayers do not change God, but through
their prayers God is changing them. First,
He moves them to seek His help. Then
they discover resources within themselves to meet the demands they face. Finally, they find possibilities outside them
at every turn to help them. It has been
wisely said that God’s posture toward pray-ers does not change with their
prayer. It always remains one of pure
love.
In today’s gospel Jesus urges his disciples to pray for
what they need. The first reading
pictures the Jewish Queen Esther of Persia doing that as she prepares to meet
with her husband, the king of Persia. Her
prayers lead to the salvation of her people as she unmasks the maliciousness of
its persecutor.
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