Parents worry about the spiritual lives of their children.  That is as it should be.  Parents want to see their children thrive and find joy in their lives, to be at peace with God and to have a strong faith in the goodness of God.  It is tormenting for a parent to see one of their children fall under the influence of one of the many demons that torment our young people in the world today.  These demons have many names:  drug abuse, depression, eating disorders, poor self image, nonintegrated sexuality, persistent doubts and a general malaise.  When children are hurting, a good parent will go to great lengths to care for the needs of their children.  In these difficult times parents need a faithful and persistent prayer life to have the grace to see their children through the difficult times in their lives.  When the demons of life torment our children, we need to turn to God and ask for help.  God wants the good for our children even more than we do.  Jesus urges us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish?  If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.” (Mt 7,7-11)

    In the spiritual life, it is also important to be persistent in our prayer.  There may be a lot of obstacles that we face in accomplishing our goals but we need to find a way to have our prayers heard and answered by God.  If we give up at the first sign of difficulty in prayer we will never make progress in our spiritual journey.  The scriptures are very clear on the fact that faith requires persistence in prayer.  If we are asking for something that is good and consistent with God’s will then we must believe that God is good and wants to give us what we need.  We don’t always receive an answer to our prayers the first time around and so we need to be patient and persistent in presenting our needs to God.  Jesus tells his disciples, “I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.” (Lk 11,8)

    The story of the Canaanite woman in the gospel of Matthew gives us a great example of persistence in prayer.  A Canaanite woman continuously cries out to Jesus until she is finally heard and answered.  She will not leave Jesus alone until he answers her request and she will not take “no” for an answer.  Time and time again she is turned away but she never gives up on her request to have her prayer answered.  She believes in the goodness of her request and the power of Jesus to free her daughter from her affliction and she humbly persists in her request for Jesus to help her.  Persistence, patience and humility are qualities of her faith that allow her to attain her goal of reaching the heart of Jesus and appealing to his gentle mercy.

    This Canaanite woman experiences many of the obstacles that we might face in our spiritual journey but is able to overcome them all and reach her goal.  At first we see her calling out again and again to Jesus and making a nuisance of herself until she is finally given a hearing.  The apostles ask Jesus to hear her just so that they can get rid of her.  She is certainly persistent in calling out to the Lord.  The first response she receives from Jesus is silence.  How do we respond when faced with the silence of God in answer to our prayers?  Do we give up and discard our faith in God’s goodness?  The next response that she receives is a challenge to her worthiness to receive an answer to her prayer.  She responds with humility and appeals to the Lord’s mercy.  There is no anger or sense of entitlement in her request, she knows that she may not be worthy but is still confident that Jesus will answer her request.  Finally, Jesus commends her for her faith and he answers her prayer.  Do we have the humility to face our faults and still believe in God’s love for us and his tender mercy in the face of our human limitations?

    Jesus’ response today to this desperate woman teaches his disciples the need for persistence, patience and humility in faith.  Despite times of difficulty in our faith we need to find a way to reach our goals and never give up on our journey of faith.  So ask, believe, be patient and persistent, and humble yourself before the Lord. Truly great faith always finds a way and receives an answer.  Don’t let fear and frustration separate you from the love of the Father.