"Prayer
is a search for God, but it is also a revelation of God. Through prayer
God reveals Himself as Creator and Father, as Redeemer and Savior, as
the sprit who scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God and above
all the secrets of human hearts. Through prayer God reveals Himself above
all as Mercy--that is, Love that goes out to those who are suffering,
Love that sustains, uplifts, and invites us to trust. The victory of good
in the world is united organically with this truth. A person who prays
professes such a truth and in a certain sense makes God, who is merciful
Love, present in the world."
His Holiness
John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, 1994
The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for:
The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. For if man exists, it is because God has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. He cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator.
The Catholic Catechism, 2003
Footprints in the Sand
One
night I had a dream--
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord and across the sky
flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints
in the sand. ONe belonged to me and the other to the Lord. When the last
scene of my life flashed before us, I looked back at the footprints in
the sand. I noticed, that many times along the path of my life, there
was only one set of footprints. I also noticed that it happened at the
very lowest and saddest times in my life. This really bothered me and
I questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided
to follow You, You would walk with me all the way. But I noticed that
during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of
footprints. I don't understand why in times when I needed you most, You
should leave me." The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never, never leave you during your times of trial
and suffering. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that
I carried you."