Sunday, October 16, 2022 – Twenty– ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C Readings: Exodus 17:8-13, Psalm 121 “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8

      My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, prayer is very powerful, and in today’s gospel, “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary”. All people who have been close to the Lord, will speak about the primary importance of prayer in the Christian life. The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily”. Jesus tells us to persevere, and praying when it is more difficult might be the best time to pray.
     When we pray, we may ask for things necessary for our salvation, piously and with perseverance; this can make our prayers more effective.
     God will hear our prayers and he is pleased that we pray on behalf of others. God knows what is best for us and he will give us what is best for us, even if we are not asking as we should. Saint Paul tells us that he prayed to be delivered from a temptation, but instead God gave him the grace to endure it. God knows the difference between our needs and wants. He knows the right time to grant our request. What is necessary for our salvation? The virtues, faith, hope, love, humility, temperance, meekness etc. To die in the state of grace, the grace to love God, the grace to know our vocation, and the grace of perseverance, prayer is necessary for salvation so pray for the grace to pray effectively.
     In prayer, little Therese says, we are like a baby learning to walk. We come to the foot of the stairs but as of-ten as we try, we fall back again till our mother standing at the top comes down to pick us up. My dear friends, when we pray there are two people involved; God and us. But the temptation is for us to focus only on ourselves. We need to pay attention to God a little more and let him do the good that he wants to do. He tells us in Ps 46:10 that “be still and know that I am God”.
     Perseverance is our proof that we mean what we say. The more difficult a thing is, the more we have to work at it. We grow in gratitude, humility and holiness through perseverance. That is why devotion to the angels, rosary, and divine mercy chaplet are so powerful. Through them we ask for God’s graces for ourselves, family, friends, and others. May the Lord grant to us the grace of prayer.  In the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen
 
Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD.