Agreement and Assurance

We read in today's Gospel, "... 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." Yet, many people have had the experience of praying for something in earnest and just the opposite happens! This experience leads us to questions in our life: Has God been deaf to our entreaties? Are we not good enough to have our prayer answered according to the outcome we desire? Are we being punished by God?

Christians have struggled with trying to reconcile Jesus' assurance of the Father granting the outcome of prayer when we do not see the results that we desire. And frankly there's no easy answer to this reality without considering the totality of the entire passage. We need to read this assurance from Jesus in the context of what teaching comes before it and after it. Before, Jesus is telling his disciples how they should handle arguments between two parties and the then the steps necessary to reconcile those who have gone astray from sound teaching. After this passage Jesus commands that, we should forgive the trespasses of others as long as the offender asks for forgiveness.

This Gospel quote (reassuring his disciples that the Church's prayer will be answered), is primarily concerned with Church harmony and the reconciliation of sinners back to the fold. However, even placing the desired outcome of the prayer of two or three for harmony and reconciliation is problematic considering the division among Christian denominations, within the Roman Catholic fold and within families as well.

This is where we need to remember that God our Father does indeed sends all the graces necessary for the restoration of harmony and reconciliation to every party involved within a dispute. But He does not force anyone to do the right thing. He does not program human beings to live in harmony or be reconciled. He does not violate our free will. He is prompting each of us to follow His command of love. Yet, the decision is ultimately ours.

There is one more thing to remember as we try to understand the Sacred Scripture. We may think our prayer for others is not efficacious but, we really never know how the other is or is not responding to God's grace. And, how or when the other responds to God's grace. So, we do not give up praying for what is necessary for harmony in Christianity, within the Catholic Church or within our families. We must trust that the Lord will answer our prayer assured of His presence and grace. However, we simply may not know the "time or the hour" when our prayer may be fulfilled.