Sometimes, when you really care about someone or something, it is hardest to find the right words to say. In fact, sometimes communication about the things that are most important to us, can be the most difficult communication of all. Ask any teenage boy calling a girl that he likes for the first time. Ask anybody interviewing for a job that they really, really want. Ask anybody saying ‘goodbye’ to someone that they really love at the end of their life.

Sometimes, our words fail us. No matter how gifted we are at using words or how often we use words in our work or in our leisure, it just seems that at times we aren’t quite sure what to say or how to say it. I think that a lot of times all of us feel that way about prayer. Prayer is very intimate thing. Did you know that our psychologists tell us that a person is never more truthful than when they pray. When we pray we let down our guard. We reveal who we really are. This is one of the reasons it is easier to pray with strangers than it is to pray with those who are closest to us. When we pray, we are vulnerable. We open ourselves up in ways that we don’t usually do. Prayer, then, can be very awkward. I don’t know too many people who would say that they are “good” pray-ers. And I don’t think that I’ve ever met anybody who would claim to be a “great” pray-er. The fact is that we are all trying to do the best that we can when it comes to prayer. There’s no right way or wrong way of praying, as long as we are trying to communicate with God from our hearts. There are millions of different ways of praying. What may work very well for some people, won’t work at all for others. The reality is that we need to find our own best ways of communicating with our God. And so we search, and we experiment, and we learn from others, and in all of these ways we grow in our prayer life. But there’s always a hunger, a desire, for more, for better. Even the greatest saints had this same desire. It may very well have been what led them to holiness.

Today we hear Jesus’ own disciples ask Him to teach them how to pray. Isn’t it somewhat comforting to know that even those who were close to Jesus when He walked this earth, also struggled with prayer? These guys were the founders of our Church, and yet it appears that they were as clueless about this prayer thing, as many of us are. Jesus responds to their question by teaching the disciples the “Our Father”. It is the perfect prayer. It’s got it all: praise and worship, thanksgiving, supplication, submission, and intercession. The “Our Father” is not just a great prayer, it teaches us what ought to be included in all of our prayer. And then Jesus goes on in today’s Gospel to describe just how important prayer really is. And how important it is to persevere in prayer.

Guys, we have a Father in Heaven who loves us. This is not a far away stranger god. This is not like Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz”, where we have to be afraid. This God is a Father to each and every one of us. And all of us may not have had the best experience with our earthly fathers, but our Heavenly Father is perfect. He has unconditional love for each and every one of us. He is what all fathers are supposed to be. Our God truly is the perfect Father to all of us. What a beautiful image Jesus gives us so that we can understand! We think we know how to be good fathers or even what the notion of a good father is. Our God blows that away by being the ultimate Father. The Ultimate Father Who invites all of us into the ultimate relationship with Him!

And Even Jesus prayed to His Father, and Our Father, in Heaven. Isn’t that interesting! Prayer is that important. And even when it is difficult, especially when it’s difficult, we must persevere in our prayer. Anybody can give up. Anybody can quit. We must keep praying. Not to “nag” God into doing what we want, like the friend in today’s Gospel, but rather to change us. Our prayer does not so much change God’s mind, as much as it changes our minds. Prayer helps us to see a bigger picture. And that’s just one of many reasons why we need to be praying.

We can talk about prayer all we want. We can read books on it and listen to homilies. At some point we’ve just got to do it. We’ve just got to talk to our God from our heart. It might not be easy. It might not be comfortable, especially at first. But in the end, you’ll be glad that you did. Keep praying. What is it they say? God answers “Kneel mail”.

God bless us Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… AMEN!!!

St. Maria Goretti… Pray for us!!!