My sisters and brothers,
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!
More than two weeks ago, we lost our Lady of Lourdes (Mary) statue which was in the outside garden at St. Ann’s Church. I did not say anything in any of our Masses, as I just wanted to pray and give time for the people who took it to return it. This was the second time that we lost our Mary statue from this garden. Sometimes the Rosary Group uses this place to pray the rosary on Mondays at 5pm. Miraculously, just this Wednesday morning, I saw our Mary statue outside my garage. My prayer was answered! I am so happy that people returned it. The statue serves as a tangible symbol of devotion, faith and the presence of our Blessed Mother. Losing it felt like losing a connection to the divine.
In our Gospel (Luke 11: 1-13), Jesus taught His disciples how to pray to God our Loving Father. He encourages us to pray persistently, assuring us that God will respond to our requests, just as a good friend will respond to a persistent requests for bread or a parent will give the best gifts to their child.
In the Lord’s Prayer, we proclaim not only God’s fatherly nature, His generosity and willingness to provide for us, but we also profess that we work together with God in building up His Kingdom here on earth. We do this through love and forgiveness with God and in aligning our will with His.
May we start to pray persistently using the Lord’s Prayer, which teaches us to approach God with trust, reverence and recognition; to pray for God’s will to be done here on earth and in His Kingdom. AMEN
God Loves You!
~ Fr. NEIL