Twentieth Sunday of Year A Collect

The Collect for the Twentieth Sunday of Year A reads as follows:

O God who have prepared for those who love You

good things which no eye can see,

Fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of Your love,

so that loving You in all things and above all things,

we may attain your promises

which surpasses every human desire.

 

 

In making this prayer tangible for this week, the following reflection questions emerged.

 

1. What does God's love mean for me?

2.  How is my love for God? What one aspect will I change this week?

3. What challenges do I have in relationship with God's love for me?

4.How will I live out my love for God this week by loving Him in all things and above all things?

5.What are the promises that God offers and that we wish to attain?

 

Today's Gospel of the Cannite Woman bringing her need to Jesus expresses not only the faith of the woman, in face of rejection but shows that with perseverance she is able to get the healing for her daughter.  Parents want to be able to give the best to their children, but when they are sick, they will go to extraordinary lengths to assist the sick child in order that they will be well again.   This woman is no different.  She is persistent in her requests to Jesus, not for herself, but for her sick child.

 

Some people might think that God is a begrudging  God wanting us to grovel before Him, before He considers our need.  No definitely not.  They are mistaken.  .

When we are praying and/or interceding for another person, we too need to be persevering and persistent.  God hears the first time- in fact He knows the need before we even ask.   Being persevering in prayer when interceding is important as it brings not only the request but the people for whom we ask closer to God and ourselves as well.  We enter into dialogue with Him about our concern, just as the Cannite Woman did with Jesus.  When we recognize that we have nowhere else to turn, clinging to the only One who can answer us is an act of faith.

 

We need therefore to pray with faith when we are praying ourselves, but especially when we are interceding for other people and we need to persevere in asking, knowing that God will bring something good from our prayer.  It may be not we asked or what the person thinks that they need at that time, but God will always do what is best for us.  We need to persevere in prayer and pray with faith.