Sunday 17th August – 20th Sunday of the year
Reflection: Matthew 15:21-28
PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE
In our Christian journey, we often need just a little patience and persistence in prayers for us to get what we need from God but we lose courage so easily, resorting to fate and believing that God does not want to answer our prayers.
The Canaanite woman in her encounter with Jesus today is a model for us to understand that God has listening ears for everybody irrespective of our weaknesses or strength. The Canaanite woman waited upon the Lord, she called unto Jesus until she received answers to her prayers. She was not discouraged by our Lord’s initial unfavourable answer. Persistence in prayers is an expression of great faith in God knowing that he alone can truly meet our needs. Behold, despite her unworthiness, her daughter was healed!
Beloved, when we seek God in prayers, let us not become discouraged by His seeming delays in granting our request(s). Let us not lose hope or become resentful, as God delays are never His denial. He knows the best time to attend to our situation. So, we must keep hope alive and continually petition Him until we have answers to our prayers (Isaiah 62: 6-7).
PRAYER: Almighty father, please give me the grace to be patient and persistent when I call upon you in time(s) of need. Amen.
KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 66 – Was it part of God’s plan for men to suffer and die?
God does not want men to suffer and die. God’s original idea for man was paradise: life forever and peace between God and man and their environment, between man and woman.
… Because sin crept in, Adam and Eve had to leave paradise, in which they were in harmony with each other and with God. The toil of work, suffering, mortality, and the temptation to sin are signs of this loss of paradise.
HIDE A TREASURE: “I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame!” Psalms 119: 31 RSV-CE
Readings for today: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67: 2-8; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
Catholic Devotional for Youth 