No offenense intended by the title.
It’s just that I’m not Catholic, have never been, and have always been a little puzzled by some of what they do. But my recent revelation came from watching a rerun of “West Wing.”
The president’s daughter was kidnapped. In the middle of all that was happening to get her back, and all that was happening to keep the country running, the president and his family arranged with Father What’s His Name to celebrate a private mass.
Being non-Catholic myself, if my daughter was kidnapped, I wouldn’t exactly do it that way. First of all, I wouldn’t arrange anything called “celebrating.” But as I watched the next scene, something struck me –
The priest conducted the mass the same way it’s always conducted. There was, as far as I could tell, no “special prayer” for the kidnapped daughter. All they did was spend time in God’s presence, take Communion, and simply be with Jesus.
Then it hit me – it’s not that we can’t or shouldn’t bring our specific needs to God in prayer. He actually invites us to do that. But I think I understood for the first time that our biggest need in any circumstance is simply Jesus himself.
Thank God that he’s still able to teach a 45-year-old Protestant something about what I really need.
