There are different ways to get things. Profane things, such as a radish cutter, can be bought, occasionally you get something like that as a gift or you win it at the parish festival in the raffle.
Skills such as playing the clarinet, sword fencing or making a perfect steamed noodle can be learned, it all depends on practice, diligence and possibly a bit of talent. It’s the same with school and professional careers, talent doesn’t hurt anything, but in the end certificates and degrees have to be earned. Although there has already been talk of doctoral degrees that are said to have been obtained without any great personal intellectual effort on the part of the doctoral student, these methods should of course not be considered a legitimate way of achieving a goal.
Especially since it shouldn’t often work that way, eternal happiness, for example, can presumably neither be bought nor copied from someone else. But this is a special case which, given its magnitude, will require its own treatment in due course.
Nevertheless, whoever is a believer will find other ways, things can not only be bought or skills learned, but also – requested. Yes, exactly, the method of asking St. Anthony for help in the search for lost things is advertised in Catholic circles with a high success rate.
Couples with an unfulfilled desire to have children make a pilgrimage to the Seligen Irmingard on the Fraueninsel, if you have several concerns at the same time, it is best to go to Vierlehnheiligen, where the right helper in need will be found. And the Mother of God in Altötting takes care of problems of all kinds anyway, countless diseases, cattle epidemics and storms have been prayed away and support in all situations has been prayed for.
But whoever trusts in the intercession of the saints in this way may no longer attach so much importance to the human part in fate. As a result, this reduces recognition. This is what happened to a young theologian who wanted to proudly present the exam he had passed at home. A diploma, very good grades after all those years of study, a big compliment would be appropriate. But nothing like that, the mother was hardly surprised. She already knew, she said succinctly, “I’ll get the better of you”.