Dear Friends,
The Opening Prayer (Collect) for last week’s Masses had an interesting statement in it that has intrigued me all week. Here is the phrase, “pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask.” At each Mass, I would ask myself, “what is it that prayer does not dare to ask?” I could understand the point of what conscience dreads, but what is the point of what prayer does not dare to ask?
The “conscience dreads” part is pretty traditional Catholic teaching. Here is what the Catechism says, “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths (# 1776).” So what conscience dreads is the breaking of that law from God written on our hearts. Doing something against this inner truth that would cause harm to others or to ourselves. Do we ever do these kinds of things? Yes, we do. However, if your conscience is well-formed, then it will keep bothering you and you will find the need to come to the Sacrament of Reconciliation to receive forgiveness from God because it keeps coming to your mind day and night. Perhaps it was an action done in anger, done in fear, done in the midst of a crowd, done in passion, etc. The Opening Prayer asks God to pour out his mercy on those things we have done against our conscience.
What does “prayer not dare to ask”? Some suggest that there are things we dare not ask for because we fear actually getting them. It’s the “be careful what you wish for” attitude. For example, some people, like St. Augustine, are not ready to be chaste or to be more generous because they fear the changes that such things would bring. If this is the case, that you are afraid to pray for something because it will bring big changes into your life, then, perhaps, you could begin by asking God to simply give you the desire to pray for those things. Simply pray, “God give me the desire to be chaste or the desire to be more generous” and see where that prayer leads you.
However, I wonder if it is not also addressing the problem that was made famous in the Johari Window which is a technique that helps people better understand their relationship with themselves and others. It acknowledges that sometimes we are unaware of our own self even though others may be aware and/or there are things about us that may be hidden to others and to ourselves. The window is divided into four quadrants: 1) known to self and known to others, 2) not known to self and known to others, 3) not known to others but known to self, and 4) not known to others and not known to self.
In this case, prayer does not dare to ask for it because we are not aware that we even need to ask for it. Others may be aware that a person has an addiction or a predisposition or a habit that the person themselves has never acknowledged. We would never even dare to ask for God’s help in getting rid of a problem we do not think we have. Perhaps we blame all of our problems on others rather than accepting responsibility for the mess our life has become. Then, this prayer is asking God to intervene in our life because we do not even know that we need to ask for help. However, God does know what we need. The question then becomes, will we trust God? The prayer gives it all to God trusting God’s mercy.
Peace,
Fr. Damian