Expert: Tom Schott - 6/26/2006

Question
What is the official Catholic view of prayer? I mean, I know that we are encouraged to pray that God brings certain things to pass, i.e. heals a sick person, brings peace on earth, etc., but do Catholics believe that God speaks to us in some way? I ask because I spend a lot of time around Pentecostals who are always saying that they'll pray to God for guidance for a certain decision they have to make and then eventually they will say that God told them the answer. I know that the Church believes that God has spoken directly to certain individuals through history (Joan of Arc, St. Theresa, etc.) but does the Church teach that God will speak to us, whether directly or through feelings, impulses or whatever, if we pray for an answer or guidance?

Answer
Andrew,

 The Church believes that God answers prayer, as you say, that prayer is necessary and beneficial for a mature spirituality. But the Church takes no official position on whether God speaks directly to individuals. The Church takes no official position on how God chooses to communicate with us as individuals. This is essentially the same position the Church takes on the subject of Marian apparitions such as those at Medjegore, Fatima, and Guadelupe. Officially, the Church neither recognizes nor denies such appartions. There are many thousands of individuals who claim that God speaks to them, or that they have had visions of Jesus, Mary, or one of the saints. The Church as a general rule is skeptical of such claims. She does not deny that these "private revelations" are possible, but she does not officially confirm them either.

Pax Christi,
Deacon Tom