SAINT BRUNO, PRIEST (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?

Anyone who is familiar with the comic strip Peanuts knows that Lucy repeatedly plays a trick on Charlie Brown. She holds a football for him so that he can run up and kick it. And Charlie Brown always falls for it—literally. Just as he is about to kick the ball, Lucy pulls it away. Charlie Brown flies into the air and lands on his back. You’d think he might have developed a trust issue after all those falls!

We know that life is not a comic strip. But we may very well have had times where we “got the wind knocked out of us” when a heartfelt prayer was not answered in the way we had hoped for. Or more likely, we have been worn down by a series of everyday disappointments in life or a sense of loneliness or tiredness. We read God’s promises in the Bible but don’t always see them fulfilled in our lives or in the life of a loved one. God seems unresponsive and our prayers feel mechanical. Put all this together, and you can see how our trust in a good and loving God might start weakening.

Keep in mind, though, that when it comes to prayer, you are not dealing with Lucy. God is good. He is a father in the most perfect, loving sense of the word. He’s not going to “pull the ball away” and leave you flat. As Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, if human fathers know how to take care of their children and give them good things, how much more does your heavenly Father want to give you only the best—even if you can’t see it right away?

So whatever your needs are, don’t be afraid to bring them before your heavenly Father. He loves you more than you can imagine. And even when you feel like you’re not getting an answer from him, you can count on him to give you what you need. So don’t give up! Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking on heaven’s door—and let him show you that he is worthy of your trust.

“Father, sometimes it’s hard to trust. Help me see your love today and put my trust in your faithfulness.”

Galatians 3:1-5
(Psalm) Luke 1:69-75
Luke 11:5-13