By Deacon Richard Hay
“Persevering & Persistent Prayer”
If any of you are handy with your hands, you know how important it is to use the right tool for the job. How many of us have ever used the wrong tool for a particular job?
For me, I cannot even count the number of times I have tried to use what was in my hand because I was too lazy to go upstairs, downstairs or out to the garage, even though I knew I needed a different tool. Often, these situations do not end well – although I am sure many of us have gotten lucky and the task at hand gets completed despite not having the proper tool.
It reminds me of this story about a man who was trying to hang a picture on the wall but kept struggling to get the nail in. Frustrated, he grabbed a wrench instead of a hammer and started banging away. His wife walked in, saw the chaos, and said, ‘Honey, you know the right tool makes all the difference!’ The man sighed and replied, ‘Well, I figured if I prayed hard enough, the wrench would work.’
The moral of the story: God gives us the tools we need, but it’s up to us to use them wisely!”
In today’s readings, we hear a consistent message about perseverance and persistence.
In the first reading from Exodus, we hear of Mose’s perseverance in prayer during the battle with Amalek. As long as his arms were raised, the Israelites had the advantage. However, when his arms grew tired and dropped down, Amalek’s army gained the upper hand. Moses needed the help of his companions Aaron and Hur to keep his arms (his prayer) lifted up. Sometimes we also need the support – the prayers – of others in our lives – that is why we come together as a community to worship because we are not an island unto ourselves. This is also why we often ask others to pray for us.
In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he is encouraging Timothy to be persistent and faithful to what he has learned and believes because he learned it from God. Paul reminds him that sacred scriptures can give that wisdom towards salvation because it is inspired by God. He adds that by learning and teaching from scripture we can be equipped for every good work, so we can testify to the truth and be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient. In other words – it is about using the right tool for the job at hand – at all times. Prayerfulness as we do this is the right tool for the job because prayer is a source of strength, but it must be persevering prayer.
Then in our gospel from Luke, we hear this parable Jesus is telling his disciples about the necessity to pray always and to do so without becoming weary.
We learn that this judge did not fear God, nor did he respect any human being. Those traits right there give us a sense of why he was not answering the widow’s plea. It also explains why he saw the widow’s case as bothersome and ignored it.
However, she is persistent in her plea (her prayer) to receive a just decision against her adversary – and the judge – out of fear that she might cause him harm – gives her that judgement.
As Jesus says in the parable, if we pay attention to the fact that this judge grants her remedy despite the fact that he does not fear God or respect any human being, how much more will God answer those pleas of his chosen ones who call on him day and night? Jesus says that justice will be done for them speedily.
The next thought that comes into my mind is that “speedily” really needs to be defined in this context.
Would the thirty years that Saint Monica prayed for the conversion of her son, our patron, St. Augustine, be considered speedy?
Or how about the two years of conflict that seems to finally be progressing towards a peaceful resolution in Israel and Gaza? I have no doubt many have been praying for that to be resolved – but is two years speedy?
Then there is Saint Bartolo Longo, an Italian lawyer who was just canonized today in Rome by Pope Leo along with six others. He was a cradle catholic who became a satanic priest. It was through nearly 20 years of perseverance and persistence in the prayer and intervention of his family, a university professor, a Dominican priest, and a devout noblewoman before he came back to the church. Could that be considered a speedy answer to prayers?
To understand time as it relates to God, we need to consider a few things:
- There are two different measures of time in this context. Chronos (chronological time – which we are used to) and Kairos (the perfect moment according to God’s will – His time) are the Greek terms that describe these concepts of time.
- The Bible illustrates that God’s timing is perfect, as seen in the stories of those waiting for His promises throughout the scriptures. The Israelites wondering in the desert for 40 years is an example of this timing.
- Trusting in God’s timing involves surrendering to His plan, which may not align with our desires, but ultimately leads to spiritual growth and fulfillment if we persevere.
- Patience is a virtue cultivated through waiting, as God prepares us for what’s to come.
All these insights show us the importance of faith and trust In God’s will for us. I would also venture to add that this is why our ability to persevere and be persistent in our prayer is so important to our lives of faith. At times it requires us to be humble because we must surrender to God’s will because all things are in his time – not ours.
However, he does not leave us alone because he provides us with friendship as a test of our humility. The humble do not mind depending on their friends – just like Moses – a great prophet – needed his friends to help hold up his prayer in the battle with Amalek.
Meekness and humility are strengths because they open us up to others and their help – because again – we are not islands floating around in this world on our own – we are a faith community that comes together to pray.
We experienced the beauty of that just last week when we participated in the National Rosary Congress and had 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration here in the church. Nearly 200 people came into the church over those 24 hours, 23 rosaries were prayed together, that means more than 10,000 Hail Mary’s were offered, all of it in the true presence of Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Individuals came in for prayer but also gathered and prayed as a community of faith. One very powerful example of perseverance and persistence in prayer was a woman I met on Wednesday afternoon after she finished prayer and adoration here at Sacred Heart. I greeted her and she shared with me that she was from Palatka, and her husband was receiving treatment here in Fleming Island. She wanted to find a place to pray so she looked online and found Sacred Heart was nearby, so she came to the church. On a normal day, the church would have been locked up for the day because it was about 5:30 PM.
However, because of our parishioners being persistent and persevering in their prayer for the 24 hours of adoration, she not only found the church open for prayer, but she also found Jesus present on the altar in the Most Holy Eucharist. She expressed profound gratitude for being able to pray in front of the Eucharist.
That doesn’t happen without the perseverance of you, our parishioners, to be present that day for the Rosary Congress.
As we have focused on today – prayer is one of the powerful tools God has given us – especially prayer in which we persevere. We also have Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the teaching of the church to accompany us in this life.
Then there are the sacraments – especially the repeatable sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.
In the meantime, as we walk this journey together, let us remember that each moment spent in honest prayer, every small act of faith, and all the ways we encourage one another in the community are seeds planted in hope—cultivating a deeper relationship with God and with one another. These daily efforts, though sometimes unseen or unrecognized, become the steady foundation upon which the Lord builds his kingdom within us, transforming our hearts to reflect his love and preparing us for the eternal joy that awaits in his presence.
To answer the last question in the gospel today, “…When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” If we continue to do all these things, then the Lord will indeed find faith here on earth when he returns.
