Dear friends in Christ

Prayer comes from the overflowing of a living faith. This is what the Readings at Mass proclaim this Sunday. Above all, the Readings exhort us to pray without ceasing. Moses does this on the hilltop, with extended arms. Jesus in His parable also says that persistent prayer will always be heard. So we cannot grow weary of praying! God is waiting to give us many graces if we but continue to ask Him. St Alphonsus Liguori teaches: The Lord wants to grant us His graces, but He also wants us to ask for them. One day He said to His Disciples:Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.’ It was as if we were saying: Do not complain to me if you are not filled with blessings. Complain to yourselves for not having sought from me what you need. From now on, ask of me and your prayers will be answered. St Bernard has commented that many people complain like this, saying that the Lord has forsaken them. But Jesus Himself laments that these same complainers have not really asked for His assistance. We can resolve to pray as Moses did: with a perseverance that nothing could shake, and with the help of his friends as was necessary. In this month of the Holy Rosary, we bring to mind constantly that with Mary’s prayers united with our own, we shall be heard by God. Let us never fail to go to her—in the Holy Rosary—and seek the answers to our prayers. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. (Pope St John Paul II)

May God bless you!

Msgr Kevin Hale