The Power of Unanswered Prayer

Homily for Mass @ CHS – Queenship of Mary                                            August 22, 2019
Fr. Albert                                                                                            Catholic High, New Iberia

When you go to Disney World, don’t forget to go to Sunday Mass. There are a few options in the area, but the closest one is a church called the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. That’s what we celebrate today. Mary is the Queen of the Universe. As the mother of the King, Mary is queen of not only the physical universe, but of heaven itself.

What do you think of when you hear that someone is a king or queen? Wealth? Importance? Power? Mary has all of those things, but not in the way the world thinks of them. Wealth? Both Jesus and Mary lived lives of poverty and simplicity on earth – Jesus was often homeless. Importance? Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and Mary calls herself a handmaid. Power? Jesus died on the cross and Mary could do nothing but watch it happen. But they are powerful. Jesus rose from the dead and Mary’s prayers have caused countless miracles throughout history, starting with turning water into wine at the wedding feast.

Still, power, for a Christian, is a strange paradox. St. Paul even says, “when I am weak, it is then that I am strong.” Perhaps nowhere do we see this more than in unanswered prayers. Jesus Christ promises several times that our prayers will be answered, saying things like “ask, and you shall receive” and “if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.” Really? Did we not all pray together for Gracie to recover? And who here has not prayed for something only to get nothing?

So many prayers to the King and Queen of the universe, of heaven itself. It might be tempting to ask, “what do we have to show for it?” Or to say, “If all the praying we’ve done in the last two weeks didn’t work, why bother praying ever again?” Not a bad question… but it’s not true. The prayer did work, but to understand it, you have to understand what real power means. And that’s why it’s important to learn from Mary. Like Mary, prayer is powerful, but we have to remember three things: free will, humility, and Love.

Mary is not God and there is one thing even God cannot… will not ever do. God will not take away the free will of a human being. The power to instantly create or destroy anything, but he won’t take away our free will. God is not out to control human beings. He is not after controlling our behavior. What is wants is the trust, cooperation, and love that leads to obedience, not control.  Those require that we have free will, so God will never override that. No matter how much someone else prays for them, God will not force a decision on someone.

Prayer for other people is important because it can help them make the right choice, it can give them grace to overcome weaknesses, addictions, and other things that limit their freedom. But it can’t make the choice for them. So, if what we pray for requires the decision of another person, there is always a chance we won’t get the answer we’re looking for. But that prayer is still not wasted.

Jesus does tell us “ask and you shall receive,” but he also says, “whatever you ask in my name, I will do.” This is not a formula for a magic spell. Simply saying “in the name of Jesus” does not make prayer “work.” “In the name of Jesus” is like saying “in the name of the king” or “on behalf of the president.” If some rando on the street says, “on behalf of the president, I give you the medal of honor,” it doesn’t do anything. They have to actually work for the president. In the same way, to pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in a way that serves the will of God. It requires the humility to accept a plan bigger than your own.

Again, there is Mary’s prayer: “let it be done to me according to your word.” Mighty faith can indeed work miracles. I’ve been in the room when a man left his wheelchair after someone said, “in the name of Jesus, stand and walk.” I’ve also seen dozens of people stay in their wheelchairs after the same prayer was made. We don’t know all of God’s plan. Sometimes no amount of prayer will heal a person. Sometimes it would heal them if there was more prayer and more faith.

Mary appeared to three children during World War I and told them to pray and to tell others to pray. She said that another War was coming but that it could be stopped if enough people prayed hard enough. Well, World War II did happen. But Mary doesn’t lie. It really was possible for prayer to stop the war before it started. But God left some of that in our hands. He is almighty, but his master plan allows for our influence. This outcome if people pray and convert, that outcome if they don’t.

So, prayer does work, but it has to fit with God’s plan. How do we know if we just need more prayer or if it’s simply not part of the plan? We don’t. Accepting that takes humility. Pray. Pray often. Pray boldly. Pray with others. But remember that God’s plan is bigger than that we can see and some things just don’t fit in that plan.

Which brings us to the final point. God’s master plan can be boiled down to a single word: Love. All the wealth, importance, and power in the universe are subject to the one reality of love. Not just any love, but the kind of eternal, self-sacrificing love that is God himself. In ways we may not fully understand, many seemingly “unanswered” prayers do work because they still result in love.

And that is why I said prayers for other people are not wasted, even if they don’t make the choice we wanted. Prayers for the conversion of a family member or friend, even if they don’t convert, still cause us to grow in love for them. And that ability to love them is often what is most needed to bring about conversion.

With our own community, all those prayers for a miracle might seem unanswered because it still ended with a funeral. But I say the prayers worked powerfully. Gracie needed our prayers for something much more than physical life, and she got them. We won’t know until we get to heaven just how much those prayers mattered.

And then there is the love. I don’t know about you, but for me, last week was very painful. But last week is also one of most love-filled weeks I’ve ever experienced. I prayed harder and loved more deeply than before. I saw many, many of you love in a more powerful way. Sometimes a miracle is how God increases love in the world. Yet, God often allows tragedy to continue not because he is cruel but because he can see, in ways we don’t, how it will only make love stronger.

So, don’t look back on this time and say, “I give up on prayer because it didn’t work.” Instead, look back and notice how you learned to love a little more… to pray for someone you maybe never talked to… to feel compassion for someone you usually don’t notice. Recognize that it did work, just not in the way you wanted it to.

Mary, queen of the universe still sees our suffering every day. She prays unceasingly for us, her children. After Jesus Christ, who is actually God, Mary is the most powerful human person in existence. How many of her prayers seem unanswered? With respect for our free will, and with humble surrender to God’s plan of love, Mary teaches us that the power of prayer, even more than miracles, is the power to love and be loved for all eternity.