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It is so easy to give up when our prayers don't seem to be answered. Our readings have a very clear message: God needs us in order to answer our prayers. If we give up, we tie God's hands. As long as Moses kept his hands up, the battle went in his favour. Remain rooted in the Scriptures, the second reading tells us. This does not mean merely parroting passages, but living according to biblical teachings, immersing our minds and hearts in God's Word. Nothing will then be able to overwhelm us. How strange to use a crooked judge as an example! Jesus uses humourous stories like this one to illustrate His point. If even this crook recognizes and respects persistence, how much more will God! Keep at it, the story tells us. Don't give up. When we pray constantly with an open heart and mind, we open a channel through which God can send His grace and His spirit. Our cooperation, fidelity and faith are key elements in God's action in our lives. Our prayers have power — let us keep sending them heavenward. Lord, help me to pray without ceasing. |
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P R A Y I N G W I T H T H E C H U R C H
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That we may recognise and revere the cultural and spiritual riches of the different ethnic groups and religious minorities present in every country.
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This month we are invited to give thanks to God for the variety of gifts he has given to humankind. There is hardly a country in the world today which is not marked by the coming together of different cultural traditions. It ought to be recognised that religion has influenced cultures and is the soul of a particular culture. Vatican II also mentions the good that is to be found in the rites and customs of peoples, recognising this as having been sown by God's Word (LG 17). In fact, Christians belong to many different cultures which have been deeply marked by the Christian faith. In order to appreciate these cultural and religious riches we are called to make an effort to understand and appreciate all that is good in another person and in that person's culture. We are invited to look upon our fellow human beings with the eyes of God who created man in his own image and likeness and who saw all that he had made and found it very good. We are therefore encouraged to consider prayerfully how God is at work in all peoples. In this context our prayer will be that the ongoing dialogue between the Gospel message and cultures may produce fruits of true freedom, joy and peace for the whole of humanity. | |
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