Mar/Apr 2002

Confession heals, confession justifies,
confession grants pardon of sin.
All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chance for mercy.
Believe it firmly.
Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God.
Hope and have confidence in confession.

St. Isidore of Seville

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

Isidore’s father was probably of Roman origin. From Cartagena in Spain, he was connected to the Visigothic kings. Isidore’s much older brother was St. Leander, Bishop of Seville. Another brother, St. Fulgentium, was also a bishop, and his sister, St. Florentina, was the abbess of many convents.

It is probable that upon the death of his older brother, Isidore succeeded Leander in the diocese of Seville.

During the thirty-seven years of Isidore's episcopate, which spanned the reign of six kings, he completed the work begun by his brother of converting the Visigoths from Arianism to Catholicism.

Considered the most learned man of his age, and the greatest teacher in Spain, Isidore established the foundations for Spain’s educational system. This included a seminary or cathedral school in every diocese, with a curriculum that encompassed not only theology and philosophy but every known branch of knowledge: law, liberal arts, medicine, Hebrew and Greek. Isidore was also a prodigious writer.

As he felt his end drawing near, in the company of two bishops he visited a church where he had one bishop cover him with sackcloth and the other pour ashes on his head. Raising his hands to heaven, he loudly begged God to forgive his sins. He then received the last rites, asked those present to pray for him, forgave his debtors, exhorted all to charity and distributed the rest of his possessions to the poor.

Returning home he died peacefully shortly after. St. Isidore of Seville was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722.

Photo by: Luis García

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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