Crusade Magazine Nov/Dec 2000

The longer the trial to which God subjects you,
the greater the goodness
in comforting you during the time of trial and
in the exaltation after the combat.

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

My Mother, I will stand with you on OCTOBER 10, 2020

Hugh was born in Châteauneuf-sur-Isère in France. His father had served with honor in the army. Remarkable for his manly piety and the example he gave to his men of purity and honesty, his ardor for the glory of God made him fearless in the face of vice. Later in life, this man of honor embraced the religious state, became a Carthusian monk under St. Bruno and received, on his deathbed, Holy Viaticum from the hands of his son.

His son is said to have been academically brilliant, tall of stature and by nature very bashful; his courtesy and modesty easily won hearts. Despite not having received holy orders, Hugh was chosen Canon of the Cathedral of Valence.

One person who came to appreciate Hugh’s solid qualities was the bishop of Die, another Hugh, who attached him to his household, and soon entrusted young Hugh with difficult tasks, which he carried out very capably.

At twenty-seven, Hugh accompanied Bishop Hugh to a synod in Avignon convened to deal with, among other matters, disorders that had crept into the vacant episcopal see of Grenoble. The council and the delegates seemed to have chosen Hugh as the one man capable of reforming these disorders. Unanimously elected, the young cleric, although deeply shocked, reluctantly submitted.

He was presently ordained and consecrated and went on to vigorously, and successfully, reform his diocese, curtailing both clerical and lay abuses and implementing wholesome practices – though his success was apparent to all but himself. After two years, Hugh begged the Holy Father, St. Gregory VII, to allow him to retire to a monastery, which he did for a short while only to be summoned before the pontiff.

On hearing Hugh’s protestations, and assurances of personal shortcomings, the Pope replied: “Granted, son, you can’t do anything; but you are a bishop and the sacrament can do everything.” He humbly obeyed and led his diocese for fifty-two years accomplishing marvels, though his painful character, headaches and stomach troubles were a constant cross of which he never complained.

He loved and consistently served his people. In a time of famine, he sold church property in order to feed the hungry. Inspired by his example, the noble and wealthy did the same with their possessions to relieve those in distress.

His love of the monastic life led him to give St. Bruno the piece of land on which the latter built the Grande Chartreuse. There, Bishop Hugh would retire from time to time to refresh his spirit, tending to linger – at which St. Bruno would gently and respectfully remind him of his ecclesiastical duties.

Hugh of Grenoble died on April 1, 1132 just short of eighty years of age. He was canonized by Pope Innocent II a mere two years later.

Question:  I pray and pray, but I feel as if God is not listening. We always had a good, peaceful family life, but these last years have been tough. We don’t seem to be getting along and our finances have taken a turn for the worse.

I am so anxious about this situation that, not having anyone to turn to, I turned to God.

But God seems to remain deaf to me. Why is that? In addition, what do I say to certain people, agnostics and atheists, who laugh at prayer, saying it is nonsensical and only a figment of the imagination with no real value?

Answer:  God is faithful to His promises, and God promised to answer our prayers. “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:9–10).

If God promises to answer our prayers, He will do so infallibly. But in prayer there are two sides: he who asks and He Who gives.

Our part is to ask. How must we ask?

Saint Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church, teaches in his book Prayer, the Great Means of Salvation that prayer must be persevering and humble.

So many times we hear people saying: “Oh, I used to ask God for this and that and the other, but He never gave it to me. Now, ten years later, how glad I am that He didn’t!”

One thing is certain: God will not fail to answer a humble and perseverance prayer. Whether He chooses to grant what we ask immediately or make us wait, we must trust that He, regardless of appearances, is doing us good. What we think is good and what He thinks is good may be two different things: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways” (Isa. 55:8), but here is where we must abandon ourselves to His beneficent will. Our part is to be patient, calm and, above all, faithful, because this is the time for testing and later will come the time for full enjoyment.

Answering Atheists and Agnostics
As for atheists and agnostics, their skepticism proceeds from the fact that they, respectively, deny God’s existence or deny men’s capacity to know God.

In this case, we can only express our regret over their ignorance of this Supreme Being, our omnipotent Creator and loving Savior.

We may direct them to a few sources that may help in their search for the truth of His existence. Atheism and agnosticism can only be sustained in ignorance or ill will because the evidence of God’s existence is overwhelming.

Moreover, God will not hide Himself from those who seek Him sincerely and unconditionally.

Another consideration pertaining to non-believers is this: If God were to grant us absolutely everything we ask at a moment’s notice, such people might start believing purely out of self-interest.

They would look at God as a wand-wielding wizard. And God Our Lord is infinitely more than that. He wants us to know, love, and serve Him for Himself so that He can treat us as children and heirs and grant us unending happiness in Heaven.

"My impression is that the Rosary is of the greatest value not only according to the words of Our Lady of Fatima, but according to the effects of the Rosary one sees throughout history. My impression is that Our Lady wanted to give ordinary people, who might not know how to pray, this simple method of getting closer to God."  Sister Lucia, one of the seers of Fatima.

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