Do Not Give Up on God Because the Answer Is Delayed

08-16-2026Weekly ReflectionFr. Emmanuel Ogla, VC

My Dear Friends in Christ,

The readings of today bring us to one of the most beautiful truths of the Christian faith: God’s mercy is wider than our boundaries, and genuine faith is often found in unexpected places. Isaiah speaks of foreigners being welcomed into God’s house; St. Paul reminds us that God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable; and Jesus encounters a Canaanite woman whose persistent faith becomes an example for the Church.

Isaiah in the first reading declares that God’s house is to be “a house of prayer for all peoples.” This is a remarkable message. God’s love is not a private possession of one group. His mercy reaches beyond nationality, background, status, history, and human divisions. Nature itself teaches us something similar. The sun does not ask who deserves its light before it rises. Rain falls upon different fields without first checking who owns them. God’s generosity constantly reminds us that grace is not something we control. Sometimes our hidden Christian struggle is that we want God to bless our people, but we get upset when He blesses someone we do not like. God’s mercy is not a competition and the Church becomes most beautiful when she becomes a place where the stranger can find a home, the sinner can find mercy, and the wounded can find healing.

The second reading reminds us that God’s mercy is at work even when human beings fail to understand His ways. St. Paul emphasizes that God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable. This should make us humble. If God has been patient with us, we must learn to be patient with others. If God has forgiven us, we must learn to forgive. If God has welcomed us despite our weaknesses, we must learn to welcome others. One of the hidden contradictions of Christian life is that we sometimes ask God for unlimited mercy for ourselves while demanding strict justice for everyone else.

In the Gospel reading, we see a faith that perseveres in the Canaanite woman who experienced silence, rejection, and resistance, yet refused to walk away from Jesus. Her story speaks to our hidden struggles: unanswered prayers, family difficulties, sickness, disappointment, closed doors, and moments when God seems silent. She teaches us that God’s silence is not necessarily God’s absence; like a seed hidden in the soil, something may be happening even when we cannot see it. When she finally says, Lord, help me, she shows us that true faith accepts our weakness without abandoning hope. When life becomes difficult, we do not need complicated words, we can simply say, Lord, help me. Human rejection does not mean God’s rejection; what others may dismiss, God can honour. Jesus eventually declares, “Woman, great is your faith!” Her faith is also seen in ordinary Christian life: the parent who continues praying for a child, the spouse who chooses forgiveness, the person who keeps trusting after disappointment, the sick person who continues to hope, and the Christian who keeps praying even when prayer is unanswered. Faith is often quiet persistence. Like a tree that survives different seasons because its roots go deep, we remain faithful when our roots are deeply planted in Christ. When prayer seems unanswered, pray again; when you fall, return; when discouraged, remain; and when you do not understand God’s plan, trust His heart. Do not run away from Jesus when life becomes difficult, run toward Him.

May we become a Church where no one feels like a stranger, for God’s house is truly a house of prayer for all peoples, and may we have the faith that keeps praying, trusting, loving, forgiving, and returning to Jesus. Amen.