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Saturday, November 13, 2004

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St. Frances Xavier Cabrini


3 John 5-8
Psalm 112
Luke 18:1-8

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heart-to-heart talk

Jesus "told them a parable on the necessity of praying always and not losing heart." —Luke 18:1

Have you lost heart in any prayer? What if you've prayed for a long time to be healed? Do you still truly expect to be healed or have you lost heart? Do you expect the end to abortion? Do you still believe or have you lost heart?

Sometimes the longer we pray, the less we believe. The Lord assures us that, if a widow can get her rights from an unwilling judge, how much more will our prayers be answered by our heavenly Father Who gave His Son for us, adopted us, and loves us unconditionally, much more than we love ourselves? "Is it possible that He Who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for the sake of us all will not grant us all things besides?" (Rm 8:32)

Because of the Lord's proven, crucified love, we can be positive that all prayer is answered either as we request or with something better. "Will not God then do justice to His chosen who call out to Him day and night? Will He delay long over them, do you suppose? I tell you, He will give them swift justice" (Lk 18:7-8). The Lord wants us to take heart and not lose heart, for His heart is open, pierced, broken, bleeding, and on fire for love of us.

Prayer:  Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me. I love You.

Promise:  "Therefore, we owe it to such men to support them and thus to have our share in the work of truth." —3 Jn 8

Praise:  St. Frances Xavier was the youngest of thirteen children. She ministered the love of Jesus to countless children through her schools, hospitals, and orphanages.

Reference:  (To learn more about the Bible to see fruitfully, we have a forty audio tape series of teachings on the New Testament. To start, order the four tapes covering Matthew, #700, 701, 702, and 703.)

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, March 30, 2004


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 1, 2004