Daily Journey Through the Great Fast With the Early Churchনমুনা

My sister-in-law is one of the most persistent people I have ever known. I love it. Once, she had to return a dress she purchased (not within the return period and never worn), so she called up customer service and spent over an hour of being transferred from associate to associate. We ALL sat on the sidelines making fun of her - this was it, this was the time she wouldn’t get it done. By the end of her call, not only had she successfully returned the dress butalsosomehow managed to get a pair of free shoes! She showed us! She left us with our jaws dropped! It is still one of the funniest stories we tell, but one of the proudest stories. Her persistence brought to her what everyone else doubted - she persisted and believed what she wanted was possible.

Just like Syrophoenician Gentile woman who begged Jesus to exorcise demons from her daughter in Mark 7 and Matthew 15, like Job’s faith in God’s compassion and mercy, like the blind beggar receiving sight. Each of these heroes of faith were told by others “no”, doubted and ridiculed by others, marginalized, kept down, silenced, yet, they persisted because of their faith!They knew God was able to give to them what they ask in faith.

So often it is in the times we have the greatest faith there are people on the sidelines doubting us, hushing us, pitying us. We should be confident, loud and persist all the more to God, as the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, who “cried out all the more.” We will seemingly be silly for believing Jesus will come through because this time is different, so just keep praying, but “don’t get your hopes up”. These are real things I have experienced, maybe you have too. If you haven’t, I can assure you that with God, you cannot ever be too loud, too confident, too persistent because His victory will be louder in His perfect time!

The Light of the Gospel is in His promise, His victory and He makes it ours as well.

Ask our sweet and generous God for what is on your heart. Speak to Him plainly. Speak to Him with simplicity of heart. Go ahead, ask! He is able. Be persistent. He is willing. He will give us what is good for us, according to His good will, far beyond what we thought we wanted or needed. Because of the persistence of the blind beggar, his prayer was answered and the lesson for us, is to persist but also, as he was once blind and now could see the Light and the Word of the Gospel, that is Jesus Himself, we should, as he did, glorify God for His provisions! Jesus taught us how to pray and it is the heart of the Christian life - every Liturgical work is done in prayer and all the prayers of the Church exist because of the Lord’s prayer, given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

“Now that he was delivered from his blindness, did he neglect the duty of loving Christ? He certainly did not. It says, “He followed him, offering him glory like to God.” He was set free from double blindness. Not only did he escape from the blindness of the body but also from that of the mind and heart. He would not have glorified him as God, had he not possessed spiritual vision. He became the means of others giving Christ glory, for it says that all the people gave glory to God.” [St. Cyril of Alexandria, 5th century Patriarch of Alexandria, theologian known as the “Pillar of Faith” and a “doctor of the Church”]