The word of God is living and effective, discerning reflections and thoughts of the heart.
A reflection from Father Tudgay for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
There’s nothing that can motivate us to pray like a good, old fashioned crisis!
We’ve all been there. Something happens, either to us or to someone we love, whether
it is our fault or completely beyond our control, or some combination of both.
Nevertheless, when it happens, we start praying fervently for the crisis to pass or be
resolved. It often does. When it doesn’t, we muddle our way through it. In the end,
however, have we grown because of it?
We also know that challenges are a regular part of life and that, sometimes,
these challenges rise to the level of a crisis. The Scriptures that the Church gives us this
weekend remind us about persistence in prayer “in season and out of season.”
Obviously, it is important to turn to God in challenging moments, to look to his love and
protection and his grace. The invitation here is to seek out God’s presence in the good
times and the bad so that our prayer is something more than just a crisis hotline…it’s a
conversation with someone whose love remains, who has been with us through
everything, like a spouse, a friend, a loved one… you get the picture here!
Persistence in prayer isn’t just the discipline of saying rote prayers at the same
time every day. That’s great and it’s a great part of our spiritual routine. But our
relationship with God shouldn’t be bracketed to a crisis or a specific time of day
(although taking time daily for prayer is essential). This is where we begin to discover
the mystery of an intimacy with the Father, who reveals himself over and over in the
good and in the bad and everything else in between. In the big and the small,
persistence in prayer allows God’s desire for our lives to unfold in a way that always
captures our imagination with love, joy, and peace!
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Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart.
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