God is not a vending machine of favors granted. Jesus’ words refer not so much to what you pray for but the confidence and persistence with which you pray. With that spirit of prayer, anything is possible.

The habit of prayer is one true sign of a person of faith. While it’s possible to go through the motions of prayer and not to have faith, it’s simply not possible to have faith and to fail to pray.

IN A PRACTICE common in the ancient world, the disciples of Jesus asked for a special prayer, and Jesus obliged with what has become the signature prayer of Christians: the Our Father. But for a prayer recited weekly by at least 2.5 billion people, its full meaning remains a mystery. 

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

Abraham, left with God, engages in a lengthy, even humorous, back-and-forth conversation with the Lord. But Abraham is not bartering to spare the two cities. He wants to find out just how just and forgiving God is and doesn’t let up until he’s sure God would spare an entire town for the sake of only ten innocent people.

In 1994 President Clinton signed a congressional resolution setting aside the fourth Sunday of July as Parents’ Day for “recognizing, uplifting, and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.”

We have forgotten how to pray. We have forgotten that there must be a time when we are silent so that we can hear what God wants to say to us. —Catherine de Hueck Doherty