Last time, in answer to a question how we can know whether God has listened to our prayers of petition, I answered that we don’t know it. We only know when he does not grant them. This does not diminish the importance of petitionary prayer, and Jesus insisted on it all his life till its very end, as some of you have reminded me of, and that’s why I answer now here. I see its importance in the fact that prayer of petition leads us to acknowledge our limitations, to remember God, to renew our dependence from him, to enliven our faith, and to foster thanksgiving. And all that is very valuable apart from whether our petition is granted or not, and that is why Jesus insisted on it. But keeping records of prayers granted or not granted does not please God. Do not keep accounts, please.

I also keep seeing from your reactions that some of you have taken too seriously my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela last month to gain the plenary indulgence of the jubilee. I always take for granted some sense of humour in my readers. Apparently, I am too optimistic. And I don’t plan to change.