Today Jesus invites us to trust in God and to persevere in prayer.

Prayer is essential for knowing God and for directing our lives towards Him, even when it seems that we are not being heard. We can be tempted to give up on prayer because we receive no answer, because we feel nothing and it seems as though nothing is happening. But let us not forget that, in prayer, God is always at work.

So persevere: ask, recognising that we need God; seek, directing our lives towards Him; and knock, even when it seems that the answer is taking a long time.

God knows what you need, and He will always give you what is truly good for you. The greatest gift we can receive in prayer is not necessarily the thing we are asking for, but God Himself: the Holy Spirit, His presence and His grace.

Through this Gospel, the Lord invites married couples to share everything through conjugal prayer, where each spouse opens their heart in the presence of the other, and together they ask, seek and knock, so that they may receive the Holy Spirit and allow Him to continue guiding their marriage, enabling them to reveal His Love to a world so deeply in need of it.

Brought Down to Married Life

Arthur: What a wonderful day we’ve had, sharing in the happiness of the newlyweds.

Violet: It’s been such a beautiful wedding. And seeing our daughter so radiant with happiness, so attentive to everything and everyone, has been very special.

Arthur: Yes. We have so much to be grateful for and so many reasons to give thanks to God for all that we have received. I keep thinking about how much we have suffered with our daughter Bonnie, and how worthwhile everything we have done for her has been.

Violet: Especially all the praying we’ve done, and how much this difficult situation has brought us together. In the end, all the prayer and sacrifices we have made together have been worth it. The Lord always knew what we needed.

Arthur: Yes. The day James came into Bonnie’s life, and the way the Lord placed him in her path to help bring her back to Him, James has been such a blessing.

Violet: They are such a beautiful couple. Now we need to keep praying together for them and for ourselves, trusting that when we turn to the Lord, He knows everything we need, even when sometimes we don’t understand. We are witnesses to the fact that He knows us and knows what we need far better than we do ourselves.

Arthur: Well, let’s give it everything we’ve got! We’ve still got two more children at home. Shall we spend some time in prayer now, giving thanks for everything we’ve received?

Violet: It’s the best way to end a day filled with so much happiness.

Prayer

Mother,

Help us always to ask, seek and knock together, knowing that your Son never ceases to care for us.

Blessed be God.