[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\u201cRejoice always. Pray without ceasing.\u201d<\/em> (1 Thess. 5:16-17)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Well, there you are, simple enough. Joy, prayer\u2014they go together. Yet we forget that, don\u2019t we? Sometimes we get so worked up, so frustrated and angry, and then we get even angrier because we don\u2019t know why we\u2019re so angry. But, we haven\u2019t prayed. Yet still, we\u2019re mystified about our anger; we don\u2019t understand why we\u2019re so angry. Joy and prayer go together. But we forget that, don\u2019t we?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the Church\u2019s reminder on this Third Sunday of Advent. We\u2019re called to be joyful, commanded even. But don\u2019t forget that joy and prayer go together, that you can\u2019t have one without the other.<\/p>\n

And so how are you doing? How\u2019s your prayer life coming along? You\u2019re angry about your anger, but have you prayed? If not, don\u2019t complain; instead pray. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t work,\u201d you say. Nonsense, keep praying. Sometimes they are the simple lessons we resist the most. Joy and prayer\u2014keep them together. It works, promise.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\u201cRejoice always. Pray without ceasing.\u201d (1 Thess. 5:16-17)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[33,49,172,89],"yoast_head":"\n