Homily for November 16, 2019

The experience of prayer can be a confusing and frustrating thing for us. So much of our prayer is intercessory prayer, asking God for certain things, for certain outcomes to situations, and yet, we know that God doesn’t direct every thought and action in our world; we know that we don’t always get that for which we pray.

Still, we are called to be persistent in our prayer, to trust that God hears our prayers, and that God answers our prayers. However, we do need to pray for things that are possible and we need to pray as Jesus taught us: in praise of and thanks to God, that God’s will take precedence over our will, that we be nourished each day in body, mind, and soul, that we may have the grace to be forgiving people and that we may be forgiven for our transgressions, and that we may have strength in temptation, that we may always choose the good.

If our prayer is that God be with us at all moments of our lives; if our prayer is that God will give us wisdom, courage and strength in our difficulties; if our prayer is that the Holy Spirit will open our minds and hearts to the presence of God in all things, then we can be sure that our prayers are, indeed, answered and that the grace of God will truly help us in our lives. +