Holy Angels Anglican Church
Homily for the Fifth Sunday after Easter, also known as:
Rogation Sunday
(May 10, 2026)
John 16: 23-33
Tradition
Given by: The Rev. Fr. Vincent J. Varnas
A journalist was assigned to the Jerusalem bureau of his newspaper. He gets an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. After several weeks he realizes that whenever he looks at the wall, he sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously.
The journalist wondered whether there was a publishable story here. He goes down to the wall, introduces himself and says: "You come every day to the wall. What are you praying for?"
The old man replies: "What am I praying for? In the morning I pray for world peace, then I pray for the brotherhood of man. I go home, have a glass of tea, and I come back to the wall to pray for the eradication of illness and disease from the earth."
The journalist is taken by the old man's sincerity and persistence. "You mean you have been coming to the wall to pray every day for these things?"
The old man nods.
"How long have you been coming to the wall to pray for these things?"
The old man becomes reflective and then replies: "How long? Maybe twenty, twenty-five years."
The amazed journalist finally asks: "How does it feel to come and pray every day for over 20 years for these things?"
"How does it feel?" the old man replies. "It feels like I'm talking to a wall." Yet, the old man never gave up praying!
Persistence is a virtue. And with this Old Jew, it had become a tradition. And, as we enjoyed learning in both the motion picture and the Broadway stage production of Fiddler on the Roof, without traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof.
Rogation Sunday is another tradition, another feast day. It is a day for embracing and invoking the power of prayer.
Jesus tells us: “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you”. This is the power of prayer.
And how should we pray?
There are five forms of prayer, including prayers of blessing, prayers of petition, prayers of intercession, prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of praise. But the most common ones are prayers of petition and intercession, whereby we ask for specific gifts and blessings. Thusly, we pray to God and/or the saints.
Jesus told us to pray to the Father through Himself in the Gospel of St. John (14:13-14), as He said: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask any thing in my name, I will do it ... [and] … no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (Verse 6)”. But Jesus also said: “Believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me …” (Jn. 14:11). So, when we pray to the Son, we also pray to the Father. Therefore, it is appropriate to make your prayers either way: directly to God the Father or to Jesus, the Son. However, remember that Jesus was one of us and knows what it is like to be human.
And just how is it that Jesus is any more enlightened about human feelings and needs than is God the Father? Remember that Jesus was 100% human. He experienced all of our joys and sorrows, our pain, and delights in one manner or another, most often directly, but also indirectly, as well. For example, Jesus was never married, but knew of marriage through His disciples. And, I think He was aware of the love that Mary Magdalene seems to have had for Him. Therefore, He certainly had great empathy for all human feelings and needs.
In this manner, Jesus conveys our peculiar and often confusing needs and desires to His Father. Often Jesus better understands us than we do ourselves.
But what should we ask for and what should we not ask for in prayer?
Ask first to be given the strength and courage to do God’s will. Then ask your special needs and desires of God, but remember, God knows our needs far better than us: “... for your father knoweth what things we have need of, before ye ask him” (Matt. 6:8). Even then, God in His mysterious ways may not answer our prayers in the way or at the time we would prefer.
Indeed, as the little story of the journalist and the Jew at the Wailing Wall cautions us, sometimes we may feel that God does not answer our prayers or that prayer is fruitless. Nothing could be further from the truth! We are never praying to a wall of indifference!
In the Gospel of St. Mark, Chapter 11, Verse 24, Jesus promises us: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”.
God always answers our prayers, but often in such a way that we may not understand His response. As St. Paul comments in his Letter to the Romans, (11:34): “... who hath known the mind of the Lord?” Never try to “second-guess” God’s prescience.
Some have blithely said: “God answers our prayers and sometimes the answer is no!” I don’t buy that. Unless we either knowingly or unknowingly pray for something harmful to ourselves or to others or that is just plain frivolous or contrary to God’s plan for us, He does not and will not turn away our valid, legitimate prayers of need with such a terse reply, as “NO”!
God sees the “big picture”. Sometimes He cannot grant our prayerful requests at the present time, or perhaps, at all, if He sees a conflict or a better way that avoids hurt or harm to others or manifests a greater good elsewhere. After all, Father knows best!
Then there are prayers of intercession to God made through the saints. This is perfectly correct and in no way conflicts with our faith. In the Apostles Creed, we say: “I believe in … The Communion of Saints …”. When we pray to the saints as intercessors between man and God, we are not asking for the saints to help us directly by any power of theirs, but by their intercession to God whose power is invoked to help us. However, God may use His saints as instruments to do His work, just as the Apostles performed miracles of healing, but this power does not subsist in man; it comes only from God.
Of what value is it to seek the intercession of the saints? As St. Paul tells us in his Letter to the Romans, (12:3-8) when they walked the earth, each of the saints had a special and unique talent acquired for some human condition or activity. Each saint has a special gift that is uniquely applied for the special needs of those among us, e.g., St. Jude who is invoked in hopeless causes. Thusly, the saints can assist us in communicating to God the Father what are our petitions and why they ought to be granted.
But always remember that God knows best. He “reads you like a book”. He knows every hair on your head (Lk. 12:7). Trust in His love for you, as His adopted sons and daughters (Rom. 8:15 and Eph. 1:5). He is your heavenly Father, remembering that if you don’t always get what you pray for, there is a reason: a good reason and God knows the reason. You’re not talking to a wall! Trust Him! And never give-up praying.
And never underestimate the power of prayer, either. We should pray always for others, and for ourselves, never loosing hope or trust in God’s mercy and love for us, but remembering that God knows best. Trust in Him, always.