Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

“What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?” (Luke 11:11-13)

For most of us, there will be many seasons of life where we feel like God is handing us a snake instead of a fish. I certainly have been there! It’s often hard to understand how God is working in our lives, particularly when we are suffering. As a new parent, I have a new appreciation for how being a mother or father means not always giving children what they want. It is humbling to recognize that as God’s children that means that we don’t always know what is best for ourselves. We must trust that even if we don’t understand, God truly does know what’s best for us. He does not give us snakes, even if that is what it feels like sometimes.

In these times, some prayers that I have found helpful are: “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief”, inspired by St. Thomas. And “Jesus, I trust in you”, after the inspiration of St. Faustina. Just as a parent delights in spending time with and listening to their children, God wants to be invited into our hearts and hear what’s on our minds. I believe that an honest prayer is better than no prayer. In this Gospel, Jesus even gives us words to say when we are struggling to know how to pray. The Our Father is a beautiful and simple prayer that we can always turn to when words fail us.

This reminds me of the verse from Romans 8:26, “For we do not know how to pray as we ought but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words”. Prayer is not a test; it is not pass/fail, good or bad. Sometimes there are no words and God understands that as well. What’s much more important is that we continue to turn to God, acknowledge His presence and invite Him into our hearts. There’s so much about life and why things happen that we do not understand but God loves us through it all and will bring good out of it. (Romans 8:28)

-Amy Burghardt, Development Manager