Prayer Changes People, People Change Things: Shipwreck and the Broom Tree

By Deacon Keith Fournier
8/25/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Prayer Changes People and People Change Things

There are lessons that can only be learned under the broom tree. The lesson St Paul gave to the early Christians in Greece about the reality of being shipwrecked and experiencing daily struggles in life is critical in our age. God is searching for men and women who will surrender their lives in love to Him, no matter what happens. Often, it takes the depletion of all of our own efforts and resources before we are willing to give up - and then to give in - to Him. But when we do - the life of true faith begins. It is there, we learn to hear the God of surrendered love in the whisper of the wind. It is there that we learn to be shipwrecked and live under the broom tree. Prayer Changes People and People Change Things.

Elijah under the broom tree

Facebook Delicous MySpace

Twitter Stumble Digg

More Destinations

CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - Lately, I have been helping some dear Christian friends who are not Catholic through a series of traumatic losses, painful experiences, economic loss, and personal tragedy in their life together as a married couple.

Sadly, some contemporary Christians teach a Gospel without the cross. My friends have been victims of this error. They were struggling with the real stuff of life, facing the existential questions which are a part of every truly human life - and teetering on a crisis of faith as a result.

Because we share a love for the Bible, I used the life of St Paul and a familiar story out of the Old Testament to communicate the truth about suffering and struggle in the life of a Christian to my friends. Let me share them with you.

My friends agreed with me that St. Paul was a Christian who accomplished great things for the Lord as he responded daily to his calling to build the Church and change the world. Yet, he was not always "prosperous", from a financial perspective. I read to them what St Paul wrote to the early Christians in Greece about his own life experience:

"I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need" (Philippians 4:12).

I then shared with my friends Paul's "boasting" to the Corinthians when he was challenged by the errant teachers, the "super apostles" of his own day who made similar claims to what they had heard. The false teaching that struggles, loss and difficulty are a sign of not being close to the Lord was as wrong then as it is now.

St Paul asked the Corinthians: "Are they ministers of Christ? I am still more, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, far worse beatings, and numerous brushes with death. Five times I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, .on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers."

"Dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure. And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led to sin, and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." (2 Corinthians 11:22-29)

I pointed out to my friends that Paul's ongoing relationship with this Jesus who had called him in the desert enabled him to cultivate the interior strength he needed for his own struggles. That the kind of living faith the Apostle demonstrated comes from living a life fully surrendered to the Lord - and that they can experience it.

I then suggested that the Lord who called Paul in the desert encounter recorded in the Book of Acts (Acts 9) had only begun to change him. This was the beginning of a life of encounters with the Risen Christ wherein Paul was invited to exercise his human freedom and respond to the ongoing grace of conversion. We are all called into the same process of conversion.Paul's transformation in Christ continued as he learned to empty himself - of himself - so that he could be filled with the very life of God.

Paul was given the grace to offer his suffering, struggle and setbacks to God by joining them to the Cross of Jesus Christ. I quoted them one of my favorite spiritual writers and saints of our age, St. Jose Maria Escriva: "The great Christian revolution has been to convert pain into fruitful suffering and to turn a bad thing into something good. We have deprived the devil of this weapon; and with it we conquer eternity." (St. Jose Maria Escriva, The Furrow #887)

I told them that in our own lives, we will suffer, we will be misunderstood, betrayed by friends, "shipwrecked" (at least figuratively), and experience the instability that often accompanies the struggles of daily life. This was new to them. I suggested that Paul shows us how to choose the better way, the way of discipleship, the way of love.

I encouraged them to make that choice Paul made. It would help them find the path to contentment and true freedom. In short, it is not the circumstances that change.. It is us! I suggested that the bumper sticker adage "Prayer Changes Things" was limited. I offered a revision - "Prayer changes people and people change things."

Because we had connected in the Bible, I also offered a story out of the Old Testament to illustrate the same truth. It was taken from the life of the Prophet Elijah: "Elijah went a day's journey into the desert, until ...

1 | 2 Next Page

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 10 of 10 Comments

Judy Claar
8 months ago
Deacon Keith, Beautiful Christ filled article. I always wondered why I was attracted to such pastoral works of art=the wrecked ship or abandoned boat upon the shore of minute grains of sand, depicting the sea, the heavens, and a large lighthouse. There is no one in the picture, save two seagulls in the sky. Which way did they/or he/she go? Where? The book of Job and Paul are always with us.
I really liked this narrative as it matched the works of art I like. As far as old art is concerned, I like the large print of Christ praying in the Garden, with Jerursalem in the background. It is another of the same type print, only with Christ. To me, all these stories and prints represent Ways Along the Journey; Hope; 'Thy Will Be Done'; etc. Of course I like other art too, but this story of yours related very well. Prayerful Blessings....
Anna A
8 months ago
Thank you, Deacon. I really appreciate this.
God bless you in your work.
Paul-Emile Leray
8 months ago
Dear Deacon,
Another nice article. 2 Corinthians 12.10: Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
There is a lot of prosperity psychobabbling Hollywoodish pop-psyche type of theology (false theology) going around. It risks resulting in people expecting all sorts of junk praise, seeing themselves as special when things are going their way or cursed when things are tough. It is often filled with narcissism, egoism, and places too much importance on the self as master of one's own destiny. This is not to say to not be self reliant. Even with self reliance, things might turn out quite different than what was expected. The human self will? Show me a human who has succeeded in will powering themselves to living to 200 years old. And human will power is strong? It is on one hand. On the other hand, it is nothing when compared to God's will. For God's will to be done through us, our own will must be submitted. Suffering often helps in producing weakness and this helps in producing humility. Therefore? When we are weak (humble), we are strong since God can work more effectively through us because we have surrendered more of our own will to Him. Then? Fasten your self belt. Why? When God decides to take us out of the desert and have us run, things can move very fast. (so fast that one at times finds himself temporarily wishing he was back in the desert!) Some subjective perspective, here, on my part, but this has been my experience. (from a mere mortal, open to criticism) Place your full trust in Christ. It is o.k. to trust humans too, but let us remember humans all have original sin, a human will (for better or worse), and limitations. It is actually cruel and dangerous to place too much trust in another human, because it then makes a guru out of the one esteemed too highly and the result is that it enslaves those with exaggerated hopes. When the gap between the expectation and the reality is too large, it produces disillusion. The guru is often a marketer, first. (and just as lost as the students!; but with a larger bank account) Jesus, first. Trust in humans? Put that somewhere down the line. We'll be doing everyone a favor, including ourselves. Result? Freedom, instead of enslavement. (including from our own desires and illusions) I would like to see an article written on encouragement and criticism in the future. Research indicates that encouragement is more effective, but there is self-evidently a place for both depending on the people involved and the circumstances. Only encouragement when criticism ought to be in effect can produce disasterous discerning. Only criticism when encouragement ought to be in effect might result in paralyzing a good person's work and drowning them just when the flower needed continued or more sunshine. I think Aristotle (the mean/center) and the Dominicans (proper balance between faith/reason) can help with this. On the one hand, we have too much junk praise. On the other hand, good people and good work often get unjustly criticized therefore the risk of producing too much doubt when more wind ought to have been placed in their sails. Striking that balance is difficult, but many have done it and continue to do so. To those who would criticize Catholicism, it is definitely more balanced than anything else I have seen, read, or heard of. There is nothing wrong with being proud of the Catholic Church. Aristotle would call this proper pride. And yes, our Church is not without imperfections. Are any other Churches without imperfections? To those criticizing, you will not find a single church anywhere without imperfections.
Your article, Deacon, is timeless and because it is timeless it is always timely.
Paul-Emile Leray
Chris Banescu
8 months ago
Beautifully stated, AMEN! There is no glory without the cross, no sanctification without suffering for the sake of God, truth, and righteousness, and no peace and joy without trusting in the Lord with our whole hearts, minds, and souls.
MJGT
8 months ago
Excellent! Thank you for your sharing.
Bill Sr.
8 months ago
Great Lesson Deacon Fournier.
Another reminder we can not have Christ without the Cross.
Our fight is always a battle against the inclinations of our own flesh and the yearning for personal comfort, acceptance, and pride. The spirit within, uniquely given by God, desires to shine forth to all others but the earthly flesh which contains it often prefers to be blinded by the glitter of our own creation and the personal pleasures it offers.
Jesus had friends who followed Him around town to town. He had them thinking He was something to behold. They loved Him, believed Him, trusted Him and even came to realize He was the Son of God because of the amazing things He did. But when the reality which the Evil one began to spin against Christ, the condemned criminal, took control of the streets and closed in on them and their association with Him they felt uneasy and some even began to withdraw from Him.
Commonality with an accused criminal could be a curse and could have physical as well as social consequences. Loving, believing, trusting, and following had found its limitations. Led by the flesh alone, distancing themselves from Him even to the point of denying His acquaintance by the leader of the pack would be better than their own personal cross and humiliation.
No man has ever been lonelier than Jesus was on His way to Calvary. No burden was so heavy nor injustice as great as His complete and total acceptance of the cross of love for all mankind which our heavenly Father placed upon His shoulders for our salvation.
Witness the awesome intensity of the Fathers love for us here. That He would allow a scene such as this in order that His children might be saved. This was His incarnate body being ripped to shreds; His precious blood poured upon the ground; His blessed virgin mother witnessing the ugly brutality against the child they shared together. And at a distance the disciples pity, though heart felt, was overcome by their fear of religious and political authorities. Yes, Jesus our brother was a loner within His suffering but universal in His love and eternal passion for our salvation.
Jesus has shown us how to suffer for the sake of our Father and his people. As redeemed Christians we are by choice now a family of suffering souls who can rise above pain, rejection, abuse, or ridicule and not wonder why or seek answers for its presence in our lives. We know because our brother, the crucified, has set the tone of our transformation by and through His glorious cross.
All Christians, through original sin, are justly tied to the cross with Jesus and should welcome a personal measure of suffering that we might share in His resurrection. To deny or avoid that cross or that measure would be to deny Christ. Accept and cherish our Holy Cross for it is truly God's gift of eternal life for us; our shared symbol of love for Truth.
Lord Jesus, though we have chosen to follow in your footsteps to the cross of our salvation, our human weaknesses often tempt us to recoil at the thought or sight of suffering. We pray your infinite mercy will help us to remember always the celestial love of the Father and His willingness to suffer through and with you on the cross for us knowing that we are truly fortunate for any opportunity to share and offer our portion with you that we may one day share eternity with Him.
Fr Keith Codd
8 months ago
When things go wrong people ask, "why is God punishing me?" As this article shows, that is the wrong question. When things go wrong it is God inviting us to put our trust in Him.
abey
8 months ago
Like St. Mary at Medjugorje who says of the manner "Pray, pray & nothing but Pray" & further importance to her words is of the manner " I choose not the best", for the cloud on which she comes upon is "The Christ", to His words which was , is, to be.
Kasoy
8 months ago
Blessed Pope JP II's encyclical "Salvifici Doloris" provides an excellent view of the meanings of suffering for Christians. God allows suffering because: 1) God is diverting you to a better path in life (Prodigal Son), 2) God is trying to draw out charity and compassion from you to help your 'brother in need' (Good Samaritan), 3) God is purifying you like gold is purified by fire (Story of Job), 4) suffering reaches its most profound meaning when it becomes salvific (Passion & Death of Jesus) when you are asked to unite your suffering with our Lord for the salvation of souls. The last category of sufferers are called victim souls (eg, Catherine of Siena, St Padre Pio, Sis Josefa Menendez).
God's Song
8 months ago
Beautiful

Prev1Next

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment