IF YOU PRAY WELL, YOU LIVE WELL. IF YOU LIVE WELL, YOU DIE WELL. IF YOU DIE WELL, ALL IS WELL.
"Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter." (Mark 7: 24.....30)
Thursday 10th February 2022, in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Scholastica, Virgin and Religious. (480 - 547). Italian. Religious nun. She founded the Benedictine Nuns that continue to serve the Church for 1500 years. Scholastica is the twin sister of the great St Benedict. St Scholastica is the patron saint of education, convulsive children and Benedictine Nuns.
Our Gospel today is a battle royale between Jesus and a strong woman. Jesus at first refused to grant her request perhaps to try her faith and persistence. Prayer is a battle.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Prayer is a battle. Read the entire paragraph below and mark it very well.
"Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The "spiritual battle" of the Christian's new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer." (CCC 2725).
This Syrophoenician prayer warrior has practiced the battle of Prayer for a long time before her encounter with Jesus.
Other battles of Prayer in the Bible:
#1. Abraham praying to God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 18: 16 - 33).
#2. David praying that God spares his child of adultery with Bethsheba. (2 Kings 12: 13 - 18).
#3. The struggle of the persistent widow with the unjust judge. (Luke 18: 1 - 8).
St Augustine teaches that you can overcome God through persistent prayer. St Patrick writes that Persistence overcomes Resistance. Persistent Prayer produces results.
“For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone." (Mark 7: 29 - 30).
Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com
PRAYER. My favorite St. Augustine quote; "If you pray well....." I recite it often to others. Also like Matthew 6:6. Thanks for this inspiring prayer post.
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