Praise be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.
Here and in other places in the Gospel, Jesus assures us that when we pray in His name, we will receive that for which we pray.
The key here is understanding what it means to pray in His name and remembering that in our prayer.
What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus?
I'll use an example, and no example is perfect, but I'll use an example anyway.
As you all know, we recently had festivities here connected to the ordination of one of our confreres.
Our community swelled in size, so somebody was good enough to donate some pizza to the friars, and I had to go and pick it up.
This good donor purchased the pizza in his own name.
I had to drive to the pizza place, say that person's name, and receive the pizza.
While going there, I realized I didn't know what kind of pizza I was picking up.
I didn't know what toppings he had chosen.
That was going to be a surprise.
To go there and, in that person's name, pick up the pizza, drive it back to the friary and enjoy it.
It was a great pizza, of course, and we're grateful to that benefactor.
No example is perfect.
Certainly, this one isn't perfect to explain the gospel, yet there is something there.
When we pray in Jesus' name, when we go to the Father and say the name of Jesus, it means that we ask the Father to give to us that which Jesus has chosen for us, that which Jesus has prepared for us, that which Jesus in his own authority and with his own power has set aside for us to pick up.
I picked up that pizza, not knowing exactly what kind it was going to be.
When we pray in Jesus' name, we pray for what Jesus prays for.
We want what Jesus wants, and we don't pray for what Jesus doesn't pray for.
We don't want what Jesus doesn't want for us.
It's a conformity of our wills to his.
And there's a divine promise attached to that.
If I had gone to that pizza place and said somebody else's name, I wouldn't have gotten that pizza.
If I had gone there and said, I don't want that pizza, well, I wouldn't have gotten the pizza that was ordered in that person's name.
So to pray in his name means to pray with utter confidence for those things that Jesus has prepared for us, and they're amazing things.
In fact, again, and they exceed our expectations.
In fact, this pizza was given to us on a Friday, and I was really concerned, you know, this person probably didn't think of the fact that we friars, we don't, we usually avoid eating, we do avoid eating meat on Friday.
This person probably forgot, I bet you there's pepperoni in that pizza, but no, this person had thought of that.
There was no meat on that pizza.
What a surprise.
What a good donor.
And our Lord is an even better donor.
He surprises us, exceeds our expectations.
When we pray in our own name, no promise exists.
But when we pray in the name of Jesus with utter confidence, yes, then there is a divine promise.
So let us pray that way and experience this promise.
Praise be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.