Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Persistent Faith


The WORD today (see http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080812.cfm) reminds us to have persistent faith in God, especially when He seems not to listen to us.

In the gospel, we see Jesus being seemingly snobbish to the Canaanite woman. Well, Jesus was right in saying he came for the Jews, the lost child of Israel – in other words, parang sinabi nya na “Hindi ako pumunta para sa mga katulad mo.” However, this did not dampen the woman’s faith. She just replied “Lord, help me.” Then Jesus again seemed to refuse her, even comparing the woman to a dog. However, instead of being insulted or angered by this, the woman showed even greater faith, and was so humble when she said “Even the dogs eat the scraps.” No hint of anger, pride or of being defensive. Pure humility and faith. Jesus rewarded her faith and healed her daughter.

Right now, we may relate with the woman. We’re praying so hard for our country – for the rain to stop, for the flood to subside, for people to be safe.  We may feel that God is turning a deaf ear on us. Malakas parin ang ulan. Baha parin sa madaming lugar. Kawawa parin ang mga tao. Instead of questioning God, let us be humble and patient. Let us show him even greater faith. Let us pray all the more. Let us continue to trust in Him. Hindi naman sya instant noodles na after 3 minutes, makukuha mo na ang gusto mo. He has his reasons, perfect reason and perfect timing. We just need to have faith and continue to pray and trust in Him. We should hold on to his promises  in today’s word – I will restore you… and the Lord guards us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Father God,
We continue to trust in you. We continue to have faith in you. We continue to pray for our country, we continue to pray for the safety of our loved ones and of other Filipinos. We humbly come to you, acknowledging that we need you, that only you can stop the rain, that only you can save and protect us. Help us not to lose faith and be persistent in clinging to your promise. Amen.

Keep the faith!

In Christ,
-g-

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