Greetings in Christ!

In Our Lord’s teaching in the Gospel this weekend, we are invited to bring our deepest desires and needs directly to God with persistent and humble hearts. This faith-filled honesty is captured in our Gospel reading when a Canaanite woman approaches Jesus, crying out for her suffering daughter despite the disciples urging him to send her away. When Jesus tests her faith by noting it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs, she boldly and humbly replies that even the dogs eat the crumbs from their master's table, moving Jesus to praise her great faith and heal her daughter instantly. Like this mother, we are encouraged to approach our Lord with fearless perseverance, trusting that our loving God listens to our cries and responds to our needs with infinite mercy and grace.

To guide us in asking well, the saints provide profound wisdom on exactly what we should request and the most effective ways to make our appeals known to the Father. St. Augustine reminds us of the proper disposition for our requests, famously advising us to pray as though everything depended on God and work as though everything depended on us. When we wonder what is truly worth asking for, St. Thomas Aquinas clarifies that we set forth our petitions before God not to make our needs known to Him, but rather so that we ourselves may realize it is necessary to turn to God for help. The saints also emphasize that the ultimate goal of our petition should be alignment with the Divine will, as St. Alphonsus Liguori teaches that the most powerful thing we can utter in moments of need is simply, "My God help me! Have mercy on me!" while trusting entirely in His providence. Finally, regarding the most effective way to ensure our voices pierce the heavens, St. Padre Pio insists that we must speak to Jesus not only with our lips but with our hearts, encouraging us with his timeless maxim to pray, hope, and don't worry because worry is useless and God will mercifully hear our heart's true cry.

As we continue forward in this 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, continue to make your requests known to God, realizing that He both hears our prayers and will respond with what is best for our souls.

In Christ,

Fr. Michael Carlson, Pastor