[전삼용 신부의 오늘 픽(pick) 강론] 기도의 응답을 받은 이들에겐 비밀이 하나 있다 I 2026년 가해 연중 제12주간 금요일 6.26 수원교구/신부님강의/가톨릭스튜디오

#FatherJosephJeonSamyong #CatholicStudio Friday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 2026 – Those Who Receive Answers to Prayer Have a Secret Praise be to Jesus! I hope you had a good day today. Let us share the Gospel reflection for the Friday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time. In today's Gospel, we encounter the most perfect example of prayer. A leper approaches Jesus, bows down before Him, and pleads: "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." (See Matthew 8:2) Although it is a short prayer, it contains all the secrets to obtaining what we desire. Today, I will begin by sharing that secret in a single sentence. God is a giver of joy. Therefore, if you wish to obtain something, you must please Him. First, let us look honestly at ourselves. With what heart are we people who give? If we think about it, we do not give something simply because someone threatens us frighteningly or begs us relentlessly. On the contrary, if forced in that way, even the desire to give vanishes completely. We willingly give something only when doing so brings us joy. This is why we are happy when we give to our beloved children. It is because the act of giving itself is our happiness. Therefore, the first principle of prayer emerges from this: if you intend to ask for something, you must first consider the feelings of the person offering it. Since everyone gives for their own happiness, making the giver feel good is the wisdom of the one receiving. It is foolish to ask blindly without considering their feelings. William Jacobs’ short story The Monkey’s Paw chillingly illustrates just how terrible the consequences of this foolishness can be. A couple obtains a monkey paw amulet said to grant three wishes. They do not ask whether the paw has a heart or what the power granting those wishes desires. They simply beg for two hundred pounds to pay off a debt immediately, as if rubbing a dead object. The wish is granted. However, that money was death compensation received as a price for their only son, who died a horrific death after being caught in a factory machine. What follows is even more terrifying. When the grief-stricken mother prayed for her second wish—"Bring my son back to life"—her buried son returned, knocking on the door with his body still crushed. Terrified, the father had to hastily send him back to the grave as his final wish. Right here lies a warning we must not miss. The tragedy of this couple does not lie in the fact that they made a wish. It lies in the fact that they treated a living power like a dead talisman, without giving the giver the slightest thought to their heart and feelings. They did not ask, "Who is the one granting this, and what pleases Him?" but instead pushed their own desires in as if inputting them into a machine. Yet, isn't our prayer exactly like this? Do we not treat the living God, the Father who possesses heart and joy, like a vending machine that dispenses items when a coin is inserted, or like a monkey's paw that produces a wish when rubbed? A request that thrusts only one's own desires without considering the giver's feelings is, in itself, already opening the door to a curse. Then, what does it mean to please the giver? Consider when a person feels the best. It is when they are glorified. People feel most content when they are exalted and their value is recognized. The moment parents are eager to give anything to their children is when the children truly recognize and take pride in their parents. God is the same. He rejoices most when He is glorified and when His true nature is truly confessed. Therefore, the way to obtain it is clear: before asking, first glorify Him and make Him feel good. And the leper in today's Gospel accomplished exactly that. Look at how he pleased Jesus. He did not thrust his own desires forward by saying, "Cleanse me." Instead, he confessed first, "If the Lord is willing." This single statement is not merely an expression of humility. It was a great confession of faith that revealed who Jesus is before people, and a praise that glorified and exalted Him. "You are the One who can accomplish anything if You only set Your mind to it, if You only intend to." He put His power and freedom before the desperation of his illness. Before becoming engrossed in what he would receive, he first gloriously confessed who He is. Who would not rejoice before such a confession? Therefore, Jesus extends His hand without delay and responds, "I am willing; be cleansed." (See Matthew 8:3) When the patient exalted His will by saying, "If You are willing," Jesus willingly unfolded His will by saying, "I am willing." Abraham Lincoln is a figure who understood this secret to the very core. One day during the Civil War, when the Union Army was pushed to the brink, a staff officer spoke anxiously: "Mr. President, let us pray that God stands with our Union Army." Lincoln shook his head and replied: "I do not pray that God will be on our side. For God is always on ...