Most of my blog references to the writings of the saints, unless indicated otherwise in the blog somewhere such as a book I'm reading, are from the Divine Office. This was from Wednesday:
"God could give no greater gift to men than to make his Word, through whom he created all things, their head, and to join them to him as his members, so that the Word might be both Son of God and son of man, one God with the Father, and one man with all men. The result is that when we speak with God in prayer we do not separate the Son from him, and when the body of the Son prays it does not separate its head from itself: it is the one Savior of his body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who prays for us and in us and is himself the object of our prayers.
"He prays for us as our priest, he prays in us as our head, he is the object of our prayers as our God."
No wonder this saint is a Doctor of the Church! It seems preposterous to think I might add anything, and still I type. To misapply scripture: focus on the things above, not the things below!
This is why prayer is effective. It isn't some mumbo-jumbo, a magic trick, a bargaining process, a reward for being good, or an attempt to earn a favor. When we pray, fast, or give alms in one form or another, it is not just us doing it. Since it is Christ at work in his body, thus are we transformed, even though the primary objective we might have in mind is not our own transformation. In fact, all the better if it isn't. It is always what Christ desires for us, though, and what he effects within us. But since Jesus is one with all people, and we are one with our Head, then it is impossible to sincerely ask God to meet our needs alone, or to only meet the needs of others. In each case, God will be working in others through us and in us through others.
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