Worried? Fearful? It’s time for bold and persistent prayer

Faithful gathered at the Carmel of Mary Monastery near Wahpeton on Aug. 16 for the 64th Annual Pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Prairies. Pilgrims prayed all the mysteries of the Rosary for the end of the pandemic, peace in the world, a bountiful harvest, and the Carmelite sisters who pray for each of us in the Fargo Diocese each day. The day also included speaker Father Kurtis Gunwall, Reconciliation, and Mass celebrated by Bishop Folda.

The day’s Gospel was from Matthew 15:21-28 where Jesus goes to the pagan region of Tyre and Sidon, and a Canaanite woman there calls out to him saying, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” Initially, Jesus doesn’t respond to her.

“By his silence, he was testing to see if she really had faith or if her plea was just another act of superstition,” Bishop Folda said in his homily. “But she persists with her pleading and Jesus even kind of brushes her off and seems on the surface to insult. ‘It’s not right take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs,’ he says. That would have been a common attitude of the Israelites for the Gentiles. They would have dismissed them as Gentile dogs. But the woman doesn’t give up. ‘Even the dogs,’ she says, ‘eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.’ Once again, Jesus was testing this woman’s faith. She was pleading for her daughter out of compassion, and her faith was real. She recognized in Jesus the one who could overcome evil that affected her daughter. She called him Lord and Son of David, something many of the Jews refused to do. And Jesus clearly was amazed at her faith. ‘O woman great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’”

The woman’s faith in Jesus grew out of the persistence of her prayer. It was faith in Jesus’s love and mercy that she continued to plead for his help even when he tested her.

“We’re living in challenging times,” Bishop Folda said. “Prayer is needed now more than ever. Bold and persistent prayer. The pandemic that overshadows our nation and world has turned things upside down and has brought suffering to millions of people. Our country is tormented by the demons of violence and upheaval. We live in a pagan culture that has forgotten the salvation that Jesus won for us and chases after all kinds of false gods and a hedonistic way of life. The conditions faced by our farmers and all who work the land are as challenging as ever. It would be easy to give up and walk away, give up on faith. It would be easy to lash out at God and blame him for our troubles. But my friends, what is needed is faith, a humble and persistent faith.”

Father Kurtis Gunwall, pastor of St. Anthony’s, Mooreton and Sts. Peter and Paul, Mantador, spoke of the importance of Mary in our lives and how drawing close to her draws us closer to Jesus, especially in difficult times.

“Mary is our model because she stayed closed to Christ and she pondered the working of God and the words of her son her entire life. She suffered with him. She remained close and knew that a sword would one day pierce her own heart. She teaches us to remain close, carry the crosses Jesus allows to us to share in, and be willing to suffer with him for the salvation of souls.”