Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
The Missionary Decade. Day Seven — “Prayer That Brings Full Joy into the Family”
May 21, 2026
We encourage everyone to respond to His Beatitude Sviatoslav’s invitation to prepare properly for the feast of Pentecost. Over the next few days, we will reflect on passages from the Gospel of John in the context of married and family life. Together, we will seek answers to important questions: how to preserve love in times of trial, how to learn unity, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, and mutual support, and how to build a family centered on God.
Thursday, May 21
A reading of the Holy Gospel according to John 16:23–33
In today’s Word of God, we hear the following words of Christ: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you” (Jn 16:24). These words carry a much deeper meaning than may appear at first glance. They are not simply a promise of the automatic fulfilment of every human desire but reveal the entire Christian logic of prayer.
The key to understanding this statement lies not simply in the request itself but in the manner of asking. What does it mean to “ask in the name of Jesus”? Is it merely a magical formula that must be pronounced correctly, or is something deeper meant here? To “ask in the name of Jesus” means first of all to ask according to His will, trusting in His wise plan. This is precisely what we say each day in the prayer “Our Father”: Thy will be done. Accordingly, God’s promise, “and you will receive”, does not mean that the Lord will fulfil every human wish and that a person will receive everything he or she wants. Rather, according to His will, God will give everything that leads to salvation and true life.
The Lord encourages us, in our prayers, to seek the will of God so that “your joy may be full”. Once again, the joy of which Christ speaks is not merely an emotion or some temporary satisfaction. It is divine joy, which does not depend upon changing circumstances but remains even amid difficulties. It is true joy, which Christ describes as “full” — complete, lacking nothing. This is precisely the joy received by a person who entrusts his or her life to God.
How important it is to see this truth not only on the level of general reflection but also to bring it into the very concrete reality of married and family life. The family, as a domestic church, is called above all to seek the will of God. In fact, this is precisely what leads it to full joy. Very often in married life prayer becomes reduced to a list of requests for health, for material needs, and for the resolution of problems. And this is good — God wants us to bring everything to Him. But today Christ leads us deeper: not only to ask but also to learn how to ask properly — that is, together to seek the will of God.
When a husband and wife begin to pray not only for their own individual intentions but also together ask, “Lord, what do You expect from our family?” then the atmosphere within marriage acquires a particular beauty because a common direction appears — the direction of God’s plan. And what does the Lord expect from families in everyday life? It is the ability to forgive even when it is difficult; the ability to listen and not only to speak; the ability to place love above one’s own sense of being right; and the ability, for example, to say, “Let it be not according to my will, but according to God’s.” And when married couples pray for such things, then Christ’s promise is fulfilled: “and you will receive”. Perhaps not always what we expected, but certainly what we truly need. For God does not give trivial and passing things; He gives peace, unity, perseverance, and that deep joy which no circumstance can take away.
Therefore, let us ask the Lord today not merely to fulfil our desires but above all to teach us to seek His will, because it is His will that leads marriage and family to true joy and peace.
Mission Tasks:
1. Personal Level: Today, during prayer, let us try to speak less and listen to God more, entrusting to Him not only our requests, but also the right to guide our lives.
2. Parish Level: Let us reflect on how our parishes can become places where families learn to discover God’s will for them.
3. Missionary Level: Let us offer someone the witness of a living faith through peace within our own family, through the ability to forgive, to support one another, and together to seek God’s will even in difficult circumstances.
