29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.

Lk 18:1-8

Our theme for this Sunday is prayer. I’ll first tackle the kinds of prayer and then the qualities that our prayer should have.

The kinds of prayer are: adoration, contrition, thanksgiving and supplication. To remember them easily let us the word “ACTS”.

A. Adoration. When Moses approached the burning bush, God asked him to remove his sandals. In the movie Charleston Heston bowed low on the ground. That was an act of adoration. Adoration is to recognize that God is God.

C. Contrition. In confession we recite the prayer, “Oh my God, I’m heartily sorry for having offended you.” Contrition is sorrow for sins. It is to apologize to God. It is to say sorry.
T. Thanksgiving. When we were young, we used to go to our ninongs (godfa-thers) and ninangs (godmothers) every Christmas. After receiving our gifts, our mother would say, “And what will you say?” Thank you, of course. Thanksgiving is to say thank you to God. Remember the leper who returned to Jesus to thank him for his healing?

S. Supplication, that is, asking God for some favour. Perhaps, this is the most common prayer among us. Sometimes we pray for our needs such as passing the board exams, or getting a job. For this we make a novena or offer a Mass or pray the rosary.

Sometimes we pray for the needs of others, for the dead, for the sick. When St. John Bosco had a pressing need, he would ask his boys to go and visit the Blessed Sacrament and pray for his intentions. He used to say, “Do you want many graces? Visit the Blessed Sacrament often. Do you want few graces? Visit less often.”

Sometimes we pray together for some intention and not just alone. We do this in the prayer of the faithful. In our traditional monthly exercise for a happy death, we have this intention: For the one among us who will be the first to die.

I would also like to mention asking the Saints to pray for our intentions such as St. Jude, St. Anthony, and most of all, the Blessed Mother. St. John Bosco said, “Have trust in Mary Help of Christians and you will see what miracles are.” If you go to Turin you will see the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians. Don Bosco said that every brick of that Basilica represents a grace or a miracle given through the intercession of Mary Help of Christians.

Now the second part, the qualities of our prayer of supplication. Our prayer must be faith-FULL. And secondly, as Jesus said in the gospel, our prayer must be persevering.

Our prayer must be faith-FULL, or full of faith. We pray to God for our needs because we believe that God is concerned about us. Think about it. Why would you pray if at the very outset, you don’t believe that God cares?

But we must also believe that God can do something about our needs. There is a song that professes in the power of God to do something for us, “God will make a way.”

The second quality is persevering prayer. Does God answer all our prayers? Yes. But his answers are not all the same. Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes he gives something else. And sometimes the answer is wait.

Why wait? Because everything has its own time. Everything has to fall into place. The past couple of years has been difficult for me. At the time I asked God to deliver me from the suffering I was going through. What was God’s answer? Wait. I had to wait one year to be delivered from that suffering.

We should never lose heart when we pray because God will make a way.

God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way He will make a way

(Don Moen)


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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to the welfare of the young. If you feel called by God to give your life for the good of the young, you may want help in discovering if this is really God's will for you. Please get in touch with the Vocation Director (Don Bosco North Province, Philippines) - 0917-7930112 - finvoc@yahoo.com - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.