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Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost 2020

A little boy took his mother aside from everyone else and asked her to see if daddy would help him pick out a bike. The mother asked why he didn’t go speak with daddy himself. The perfect answer came from the little one: “Because he listens o you more than to me.” Intercession is a pattern of spiritual wisdom. This power is so often forgotten but this week the Gospel reminds us of the need we have to pray for others and for others to pray for us. Let us reflect upon the power of intercession, its application today and the means which enhance it.

What is the nature of intercession today? First of all, it is an expression of the commandment which calls upon us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Every soul wants and needs spiritual gifts that seems to distant to us as we pray day after day and never seem to receive what we think we need. We are praying for ourselves and forgetting the principle of self-forgetfulness. Think and pray for the needs of others and before you know it you will have others praying for your need.

There is an ancient Chinese parable about souls after dying. There are two rooms exactly alike with sumptuous food and chop sticks 3 feet in length. In the first room all the souls sit down and cannot get a bit to eat of this wonderful food. So, they wail and gnash their teeth. It is hell. In the other room, the same arrangement but they are all praising God and enjoying the feast by feeding their neighbors. It is a fabulous fable to reflect upon for it indicates the power of intercession and the virtuous life
it develops in us.

In the parable the friends bring the paralytic to Jesus and drop his bier right in front of our Lord. Our Lord “saw their faith” and said to the sick man “thy sins are forgiven”. Of course, the pharisees interior complained thinking: “Who can forgive sins, but God alone.” How right they are but their hearts are envious and they cannot accept a God who forgives much less on a Sabbath. They do not pray for the cure of the poor soul. Instead, they condemn the one who seeks to heal the sick man. Now answering the faith of the friends and the complaint of the Jews, Jesus speaks saying: “Arise, take they pallet and go home.” The intercession healed the paralytic and hardened the heart of the Jews who now seek to kill our Lord.

In our modern world what can we do to intercede for others? We can develop the truly Catholic heart that seeks to intercede for a soul that is dying and in the state of mortal sin. Let us perform a sacrificial act for the graces needed by that soul to seek the forgiveness of God. Recall the effect that St. Therese’s prayer had on that prisoner that was up for capital punishment. As her prayer for the other was effective so might ours be.

Second, we can join with others in novenas to the saints praying for the intentions of the whole group while the group also prays for our intentions. Just the last nine days I was praying with others to St. Therese for some help in the construction of the Oratory of the Two Hearts. In the final day of the novena (today) I received a healthy check from a couple I befriended in northern Minnesota. The intercession of the group help to secure just the funds I need for this next week of work.

Every prayer can be an act of intercession if we but trust the words of our Lord. Our blessed mother is the intercessor par excellence. We can always turn to her for the littlest of things. When I had left my family to enter the seminary way across the U.S. I had the opportunity and funds to come home on a Spring vacation and I decided to take the chance and surprize my family. When I arrived at L.A. International I went to a phone and dialed Topaz 28876 and the phone began make strange sounds. I hung up and tried another line and the same buzzing and spitting. I turned in prayer to Mary, the Help of Christians and asked her to get me through to my mom because I did not know how I would get home. I dialed the number every so slowly and I heard “ring, ring, ring.” Mom answered and said “Richard, how did you get through? This phone has been out of order for two days.” Our Blessed Mother interceded for me there and in so many other occasions in my priestly life.

We have entered the wonderful month of the holy rosary and I would encourage all to pray it with more fervor than ever with all the demonic activity in our country. We can defeat evil only by joining together in prayer and the rosary is the power of powers to do the work we need to secure our country for God alone.

In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Fr. Richard Voigt

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