This weekend I continue with the second homily of a new message series called BREAKING NEWS—THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS. This seven part message series will help all of us realize that God’s love is good news that we should embrace, celebrate and share. God is for us and not against us. This makes a difference in our lives!! I will be preaching this series every week at the 8 AM Mass at St. Joseph Church and all the Masses that I celebrate each weekend. If you miss any of the series you can go to our website (chathamcatholic.ca) to watch or listen.
October 11/12 – GOD HEALS US
October 18/19 – GOD HEARS US & HELPS US
October 25/26 – THE POWER OF HUMILITY
November 1/2 – GOD GIVES US ETERNITY
November 8/9 – HEAVEN ON EARTH
November 15/16 – GOD HELPS US PERSEVERE
November 22/23 – BUILDING CHRIST’S KINGDOM
GOD HEARS US
Last weekend in the first homily of the series, I reflected on the fact that God heals us and invites us to help heal others. Last week’s gospel was the story of the ten lepers who sought the Lord’s mercy.
There is no question that God hears us and all our prayers. This weekend, Jesus shares the parable of the unjust judge and the widow from the Gospel of Luke reminding us that we need to pray always and not lose heart—God is caring, loving and joyful—He will always listen and respond to our prayers!
PRAYER IS OUR FAITH LANGUAGE
Prayer is essential for all of us. The only way we can speak to God and listen to His voice is through prayer. This is our faith language. It takes a bit of practice for us to embrace and utilize this language of the heart.
There are many different ways to pray. There are formal forms of worship and prayer (Mass, Liturgies of the Word, Holy Hours, Novenas & the Rosary) in addition to more subtle, quiet and personal forms of prayer (Sacred reading of scripture, meditation, quiet adoration or prayer before the Tabernacle). Regardless of the different ways each of us prays—the one fundamental reality is that we need to be persistent in our prayer. This is not a request line but a holy conversation where we share our needs, offer praise and seek wisdom from the Lord. It is also a time to stop, wait and listen for the voice of God. This requires patience and an openness to the way God responds—which is rarely in the way we expect.
THE DYNAMICS OF PRAYER
There are very important dynamics to prayer. Like physical exercise to get into shape requires commitment, dedication and consistency—prayer also needs the same determination and proper approach for it to be most effective. If we persevere and avoid missteps, prayer allows us to connect with the Lord and allows Him to help us. We must always remember that God is on our side—He wants to help us become the best version of ourselves!
(1) GOD WANTS US TO CHANGE & GROW – Prayer is not just a request line in an attempt to convince God to go our way. Prayer essentially changes us and helps us conform to God’s will—which we know is the best way to live our lives!
(2) OUR PRAYER NEEDS TO LOOK PAST OUR OWN NEEDS – Prayer is not just something to help us with what we want or need. Prayer should help us see the bigger picture of how we can help build God’s kingdom in our world today.
(3) SOMETIMES WE ARE PRAYING FOR THE WRONG THING – Sometimes what we are praying for is not what God wants for us and for the world. It is important to reflect on what we are asking of God or what help we are seeking—Is it good for everyone or just for ourselves? Is this what God wants or what we want?
(4) SOMETIMES PERSEVERING IN PRAYER HELPS US DISCOVER NEXT STEPS – Prayers are not answered instantaneously like our Google searches on the internet. Things take time and when we persevere in prayer we can discover the next steps that we need to take in answer to prayers. Wrestling with situations and circumstances in prayer helps us deepen our understanding of what we need to do.
(5) SOMETIMES WE HAVE A PART TO PLAY & A JOB TO DO AND NOTHING WILL HAPPEN UNTIL IT HAPPENS – Prayer always leads to action and we have the great privilege of being instruments of God’s grace helping things move forward. At times we need to be courageous and act trusting that God will carry us through. Sometimes we not only have to say “yes” but act on that response by playing our part in God’s mission in our world today. We are part of something bigger and we are all interconnected.
GOD ALWAYS HEARS US AND HELPS US. GOD IS ON OUR SIDE & WANTS US TO BE FULLY ALIVE!
MAY WE NEVER LOSE HEART & TRUST THE LORD.
