Persistence

Persistence and hope go hand in hand.

There was a child who went to the church and said his prayer before the cross of Christ. After he said his prayers, we readied home feeling satisfied. The next day the child went back to the Church and again said his prayers. As usual, he went home after saying his prayers. On that that same day, the parish priest went to the police station to report the loss of a statue of Mary which was placed inside the Church.  Surprisingly, the same child went back to the church and again said his prayers: do you know his prayer? The child said, “Jesus, if you will not answer my prayer, I will not return your mother.” The next day, the Child returned the statue as he receive an A+ grade from his teacher in religion for the first time.

Good morning. Our readings today invite us simply to be persistent. But not to be persistent in doing evil but in goodness. Our first reading for example tells us how people complained to what they see in their society. It seems that those who are evildoers are the ones who prosper while those who are faithful to God, those who live in holiness area bit in difficulty. This is what many people if not all are complaining. In fact, meron nga tayong kasabihan na ang masamang damo, matagal mamatay. Some people are complaining why are they suffering when in fact they are faithful in their prayer life, they serve the people and the Church.

But what did the Lord said through the prophet Malachi? You will see the distinction between the evildoers and those who fear the Lord. And this is what we always believe and being taught to us through our Church tradition: God will always choose and choose and  choose the good ones. They are gods special possessions. We just have to be patient. We just have to persevere. We just have to be persistent in doing good. For the Lord will always make his bet on us, the good ones.

The same thing to our gospel reading. Jesus is teaching us to be persistent in our prayers. Kung ang tao ay nadadala sa pagiging pursigido ng ibang tao, ng ating mga anak, katrabaho, etc, how much more to our God. Ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened.

Most often, our prayers are actually prayers for miracles. renewal of ones husband or wife. A brat child to a good one. Money even without work. To be a millionaire. Etc. but you know, Miracles happen because of two things: 1) persistence of man, 2) graciousness of God. We are persistent because we know we have a good God, we know that he is always on our side, we are hopeful that God will definitely answer our prayers.

As health workers, we should not only heal people’s health but moreso, we should heal people’s hope and trust in the goodness of the Lord. Always teach people that they are not healed by medicines alone but because of the goodness and graciousness of God. Teach them the art of perseverance. teach them the art of hoping. Many people today are actually sick. But amidst their sickness always tell them not to loose hope.

Be persistent in your prayers and intentions before God. Be persistent in being a good person, a good wife or husband. And rest assured that God is not hard to get. In fact, he is very easy to get. He just wants to see how persistent we are to what we really desire. How sincere we are to what we really ask. Like the child in the story, God will always notice our persistence.