Expert: Marco - 4/23/2009

Question
I am a Roman Catholic.  I have a young child (he is 8 years old) who has
severe autism and is non-verbal.

I am praying for a miracle from God to cure him - most especially to give him
the gift of speech and normal communication ability.

I am praying to several saints, i.e., Padre Pio (as I feel a special link here - he
came to me many years ago in a dream - after his death), the Blessed
Margaret of Castello who was disabled herself and unwanted by society and
to the Venerable Solanus Casey whose shirne I visited many years ago and
whose story has always fascinated me.

My question is that by praying to these holy souls to intercede for me and
pray for God's mercy and healing for my son, am I praying to TOO many at
one time.  Especially those, Margaret and Solanus, who have not reached
sainthood.

Would it be better to concentrate on one at a time and perhaps pray a novena
one at a time?  

My son only has me in this world and I am 55 years of age.  I fervently pray
that he will be cured before I die and must leave him.  I cannot imagine what
his life would be like with his type of disability all alone in the world and no
way to communicate.

I often regret not being able financially to take him to a shrine like Lourdes or
to San Giovanni Rotondo.  Although I know there are no guarantees and it
may be God's Will that he have this affliction, I still feel that there is hope he
might be cured for he is a little angel and has a special effect on all who meet
him with his warm presence and smile that lights up all around him.

I would appreciate any insights you might have on this topic.

Thank you.

Answer
Dear Susan,

I understand your worries and your sufferings.
Sometimes we cannot understand the reasons why certain facts occur, but I firmly believe that if God allows something to happen, there is always a good reason for it, and one day, in heaven, we will understand this reason.
I think praying the Lord and the saints for a miracle is a good thing, and I hope the Lord will grant your prayers.
However we must always be ready to accept God's will.
I do not think that the problem is to pray too many saints or not.
Personally I pray only the Lord, but I think that each of us is free to pray in the way he/she feels.
There are some verses in the Bible that always help me to pray.
These verses are the following:

Mark
11:20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
11:21 And Peter remembered and said to him, Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which you cursed has
withered away.
11:22 And Jesus said to them, Have faith in God.
11:23 For truly I say to you, That whoever shall say to this mountain, Be removed, and be cast
into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says
shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he says.
11:24 Therefore I say to you, Whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that
you have received them, and you shall have them.
11:25 And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone: that your Father
who is in heaven may also forgive your trespasses.
11:26 [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your
trespasses.]

9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Teacher, I have brought to you my son, who has a
dumb spirit;
9:18 And whenever it seizes him, it tears him: and he foams, and gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid:
and I asked your disciples to cast it out; and they could not.
9:19 He answered him, and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall
I endure you? bring him to me.
9:20 And they brought him to him: and when he saw him, immediately the spirit tore him; and he fell
on the ground, and rolled around foaming at the mouth.
9:21 And he asked his father, How long has this been happening to him? And he said, Since he was a
child.
9:22 And often it has cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if you can do
anything, have compassion on us, and help us.
9:23 Jesus said to him, If you can! all things are possible to him who believes.
9:24 And immediately the father of the child cried out, and said, Lord, I believe; help me overcome
my unbelief.
9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying to him,
You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and do not enter into him again.
9:26 And the spirit cried out, and threw him into severe convulsions, and came out of him: and he was
like a corpse; so that many said, He is dead.
9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
9:28 And when he came into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out?
9:29 And he said to them, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.

Matthew
17:14 And when they had come to the multitude, a certain man came to him, kneeling down before him,
and saying,
17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is epileptic, and severely vexed: for often he falls
into the fire, and often into the water.
17:16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.
17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?
how long shall I endure you? bring him here to me.
17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and it departed out of him: and the boy was cured from that very
hour.
17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately, and said, Why could we not cast it out?
17:20 And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief: for truly I say to you, If you have faith
as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there; and it shall
move; and nothing shall be impossible for you.
17:21 [Yet this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.]

21:19 And when he saw a fig tree by the way, he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves,
and he said to it, Let no fruit grow on you ever again. And at once the fig tree withered away.
21:20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How did the fig tree so quickly wither
away?
21:21 Jesus answered and said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith, and do not doubt,
you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say to this mountain,
Be removed, and be cast into the sea; it shall be done.
21:22 And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.

6:2 Therefore, when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, that they may have praise from men. Truly I say to you, They have
received their reward.
6:3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing:
6:4 That your alms may be in secret: and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you.
6:5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites: for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you,
They have received their reward.
6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and when you have shut your door,
pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you.
6:7 But when you pray, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do: for they think that
they shall be heard for their many words.
6:8 Therefore, do not be like them: for your Father knows what things you have need of,
before you ask him.



6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
6:25 Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall
drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing?
6:26 Behold the birds of the air: they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
6:27 Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to the span of his life?
6:28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they do not toil, nor do they spin:
6:29 And yet I say to you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
6:30 Therefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into
the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?
6:31 Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what
shall we be clothed?
6:32 After all these things the Gentiles seek: but your heavenly Father knows that you have need of
all these things.
6:33 But seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
6:34 Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow shall be anxious for itself.
Sufficient for each day are the troubles of its own.

7:7 Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you:
7:8 For every one who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened.
7:9 Or what man is there among you, whom, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?
7:12 Therefore, all things that you would have men do for you, do for them: for this is the law and
the prophets.



Luke
1:36 And, behold, your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age: and she who was
called barren is in her sixth month.
1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
1:38 And Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.
And the angel departed from her.


11:5 And he said to them, Suppose you have a friend and go to him at midnight, and say to him,
Friend, lend me three loaves;
11:6 For a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.
11:7 And from within he shall answer and say, Do not trouble me: the door is now shut, and my children
are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give you anything.
11:8 I say to you, Though he will not rise and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because
of his persistence he will rise and give him as much as he needs.
11:9 And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened to you.
11:10 For every one who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be
opened.
11:11 Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
11:12 Or if he asks for an egg, will offer him a scorpion?
11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?


Your brother in Christ,

Marco