Sorry, Ethereality, for this late response. I do not visit catholic forums daily, but today I noticed that you had made some responses to my posts. I will address some of your comments.
Right, but in effect your are encouraging me to doubt that it’s God’s will for me to be healed, and hence to doubt that I will be healed, which would then seem to invalidate my prayers entirely, as Jesus seems to be teaching a prerequisite for receiving the healing is to believe that we will receive it. See the Bible passages I quoted.
Actually, it may not be God’s will that you be healed, or at least not yet. So, I am not encouraging you to doubt what God wills for you. Rather, I am encouraging you
to accept what He wills.
That you are not healed in spite of your faith does not invalidate Christ’s words. Indeed, faith is a prerequisite, or a necessary condition, for healing. But it is not a sufficient condition. Perhaps an example will illustrate the difference. Suppose a doctor tells you, “To be healthy, you must eat well.” OK, does that mean that if you eat well, then your health will be guaranteed? No, because you also need exercise, sleep, etc. to be healthy. In other words, eating well is a
necessary condition for maintaining your health, but it is not a sufficient condition. In the same manner, faith is necessary to obtain favors from God. But faith alone is not sufficient. Other conditions must be met, one of which is that the favor you ask must fully accord with God’s will.
The difference is that God spoke to Paul and told him why.
Will it really make a difference if God spoke to you directly as He did to St. Paul? Would you have accepted His will if He simply said, “my grace is sufficient”? God speaks to you also in many ways. For He is not limited to using His words alone. He can also speak to you through the counsels of other people, or through the lessons and events of everyday life.
You’re also inverting my argument – looking at it backwards, or incorrectly. I am not saying “God must because x.” I am saying, “Because of x, then if God does not, then it seems God is not good, Jesus is a liar, etc.” All I am doing is looking at what Jesus tells us at face value, and the Church confirms this method of Biblical interpretation, that all meanings must be based on the literal meaning of the text.
I agree with the general principle of interpreting the Bible literally. However, I do not think that you are making a good literal interpretation if you read a necessary condition as if it were a sufficient condition, or if you read an encouragement as if it were a promise. But how do we know what is truly meant by the sacred text? *By not reading biblical passages in isolation from the rest of Holy Scripture. *
Consider these words of our Lord: “And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive” (Mt. 21:22) If you read this text alone, you might think that Christ meant to say that by praying with a strong faith, then you can get everything you ask for. But if you read other parts of Holy Scripture, then you know that it is not so. In 2 Samuel 12:16-19 we read King David himself fasting and praying for his sick child to be healed, but the child died instead! Surely David was a man of faith. He was the author of those Psalms that say “The Lord is my shepherd…” Yet his faith was not enough. Faith is necessary, but not sufficient. So, how should we interpret Mt. 21:22? In the light of David’s experience, and that of St. Paul, we should interpret Christ’s words as an encouragement to pray with faith (for without faith you will not receive your request). However, it is an **encouragement, **not a promise!
No, he is giving me misery and making me want to kill myself. I think about it maybe once a week now. (Three different methods come to mind as I write this post.) That is not something a loving father should do to his son.
If God gives you pain and misery, then accept it because it is His will. (It is not His will that you kill yourself, though.) Do not think that because God is good, that He will never want to see you suffer or feel pain. It is the devil who wants you to think that way. The devil always wants the easy way out, or the rosy path. The honest truth is that God also wills pain and suffering in the world as part of His great plan for humankind.
Remember, God wills every physical event that happens in the world. Not a leaf will fall without God’s permission. Therefore, sickness, death, natural disasters, etc., are also all expressions of God’s will, although we often regard them as physical evil. Truly, God wills them. Indeed, the only evil that He does not will is moral evil or sin. But He does will what we commonly call physical evil. How come? Because in the grand scheme of things, these so-called “physical evils” are not really evil in His design. What you often see as physical evil is merely the result of natural laws that He has wisely implanted in nature. For example, you see someone fall from a tree and you think it is an evil? Well, of course, it is. But if God eliminates gravity (so nothing falls), do you think we will be able to walk on earth as we do now? Also, will there be martyrs if there is no death? And in the moral plane, will there be pardon if there are no offenders?
So, if you are afflicted with pain and suffering, accept it as coming from the providential Hand of God. Sometimes, it is not easy for us to see things from God’s point of view, and we misjudge Him for His wise providence. But I encourage you to trust Him as you would trust a loving Father. He knows what you need even before you ask Him.
God bless you!