WHETHER CHRIST’S PRAYER WAS ALWAYS HEARD
Reply. A distinction must be
made: Christ’s prayer in the strict sense, namely, that which proceeded from
His absolute will as the result of deliberate reason, was always heard, because
His will was always in conformity with the divine will, so that by this prayer
He willed or sought only what He knew God wills. The words that Martha
addressed to our Lord are to be understood in this sense when she said: “I know
that whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee” (John 11:24).
Also, when our Lord says: “And I knew that Thou hearest Me always” (John 11:42).
And St. Paul says of Christ: “He was heard for His reverence” (Heb. 5:7).
Christ’s conditional
prayer expressing the desire of His sensitive nature or of His will considered
as nature, was not always heard, which is evident from His prayer in the
Garden.
Second objection. Christ prayed that
the sin of those who crucified Him might be forgiven (Luke 23:34). Yet not all
were pardoned this sin, since the Jews were punished on account thereof.
Reply to second
objection. St. Thomas says: “Our Lord did not pray for all those who crucified Him,
nor for all those who would believe in Him, but for those only who were predestined
to obtain eternal life through Him.” (Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Christ the
Savior: A Commentary on the Third Part of St. Thomas’ Theological Summa [trans.
Dom Bede Rose; London: B. Herder Book Company, 1950, 1957], 491)
In a footnote for the above, Garrigou-Lagrange
noted:
Certain professors of
the Duacene theological faculty reviled this reply of St. Thomas as Jansenistic
in their censure of August 22, 1722, which censure was condemned by Rome on Jun
18, 1726. These professors did not understand that St. Thomas in this reply to
the second objection has in mind only efficacious prayer that is the result of
what is simply willed; he is not speaking of conditional prayer that is in
conformity with God’s conditional will to save all. (Ibid., 491 n. 14)