Deacon Ken, from Sacred Heart Parish in Riverton, NJ likes to use the acronym ?ASAP?. When he uses it, however, it has a different meaning than what we are used to. His version stands for Always Say A Prayer. It serves as a reminder of what is really important in life.
Last night, I was attempting to install a printer on my computer. After several unsuccessful tries, I remembered the ?ASAP? acronym. I paused and said a silent prayer asking God to help me with my efforts. After all, I had planned on using the printer to print literature for our apostolate. It only made sense that I would turn to Him when facing difficulties. I would like to say that after the prayer everything fell into place and the printer now works fine, but? it?s still not working. What went wrong? Didn?t God hear me? Didn?t He understand that I was going to use the printer for His work? Or is it possible that He did answer my prayer, but not in the way that I wanted?
God always hears and answers our prayers. Sometimes the answer is not the one that we want or expect. In this case, how can a broken printer be an answer to my prayer? He could be teaching me patience. He could be trying to show me that a functioning printer is not really all that important. He could be teaching me humility and making me realize that I?m not really ?in control?. He could even be providing me with an entry for my blog. He could be teaching me any number of things that my finite mind may not be able to understand. In any case, I?ll need to trust that His will is perfect and that He knows what?s best. In the meantime, as other difficulties arise in life, I?ll Always Say A Prayer?especially for the grace to be able to accept the answer that He provides.
