God’s impeccable timing

Mary B discovered a rustic-looking ceramic teapot when she cleaned her utility room.

“When I saw it, I thought of you,” she later told me.  “I’ve had it since 1980, and now I want you to have it.”

“Thank you!”  I really liked it, but how did she know about my unusual teapot collection when she hadn’t even been to our house?

“Look at the inscription,” she twinkled.  “If two shall agree, it shall be done.”

And then I remembered our very first time praying together.

Prayer power

One morning in March, our oldest son called.  He was worried about his doctor’s appointment that afternoon.  He’d consulted with the optometrist a couple of times that week, but the prescription drops had only reddened the eye more.  The doctor had been so alarmed that he’d scheduled an appointment for him with an ophthalmologist.

With only twenty dollars in his pocket, William worried about the doctor’s bill.  He hadn’t been able to reach either his friends or the band leader to see if they could help.  “I’ve already considered my options,” he said.  “I’ll take the bus there, but what will I say when I can’t pay for the exam?  I can’t put it off.  The doctor says I could lose my eye.”

“Don’t worry,” I told him.  Everything will be all right.  I’ve been praying for you to the Holy Infant and akk our angels and saints since we got on the phone.  Just say ‘praise God, I am healed’ and you’ll be fine.”

“I’ve got to go!” William blurted as he noticed the time.  The doctor’s office was in North Austin, across town from where he was.  He had a ways to get to the bus stop, and he was so tired that he hoped to stay awake long enough to switch buses and arrive on time.

I felt so helpless.  All I could do was pray, but I knew God was listening.  Everything will be all right, I thought.  Everything will be just fine.

The phone rang.  Mary was calling about getting together that afternoon.  Unable to hold back, I shared William’s story.

“Let’s agree,” Mary said, “that, where two are joined in prayer, it shall be done.”

Answered prayer

Feeling hopeful I rode my bike to Mary’s house and, soon after, Steven called to say he’d arrived from work just as the phone was ringing.

William quickly filled Steven in.  The ophthalmologist had replaced the optometrist’s medication with a free sample of over-the-counter drops that sold at Walmart for less than two dollars, and the band leader had shown up in perfect time to pay the bill and drive William home.  Moreover, the band had a gig that evening, so he’d be able to repay the money right away.  William was so relieved that he couldn’t stop laughing.

Mary B and I were so happy that we couldn’t stop laughing either.  Talk about quick results!  We right away thanked and praised God for William’s healing… and then agreed to be prayer buddies.

Thank you, dear God, for your listening ear and your impeccable timing!

January 29, 2015

“When we yield to discouragement or despair, it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future” (St. Thérèse of Lisieux).

April 9, 2015

If things go well, let us rejoice, blessing God who makes them prosper.  And if they go badly?  Let us rejoice, blessing God who allows us to share in the sweetness of his cross (St. Josemaría Escrivá).

April 10, 2015

Just as it is weakness to rest in one’s own misery, so it is strength to make of one’s own nothingness the material for confidence in God.  Just as self-pity is the only kind of pity that is entirely useless, so confi­dence in God is the only kind of confidence that is sure proof against disappointment (Dom Hubert van Zeller in How to Find God).

May 8, 2015

Hope is an eminently practical virtue; it is the virtue that drives far from our heart the specter of discouragement, the most frequent dangerous temptation in the spiritual life.  As the inseparable companion of suffering, it confirms and strengthens peace in our soul (Luis M. Martinez in When God is Silent).

July 25, 2016

Let nothing disturb you, nothing cause you fear.  All things pass; God is unchanging.  Patience obtains all.  Whoever has God needs nothing else; God alone suffices (St. Teresa of Ávila in Saintly Solutions to Life’s Common Problems).

November 4, 2016

“God wishes us not to rest upon anything but his infinite goodness” (St. Charles Borromeo).

December 7, 2016

Christ is everything for us.  If you wish to cure a wound, he is doctor….  If you desire heaven, he is the way.  If you flee from darkness, he is light.  If you seek food, he is nourishment (St. Ambrose).

December 16, 2016

“Hope is like the sun which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us” (Samuel Smiles).

July 27, 2017

My soul, be at rest in God alone from whom comes my hope.  God alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not fall (Ps. 62:6-7).

August 16, 2017

“Of all the virtue, the most necessary is trust in God because without it he can do nothing and with it he can do everything” (Fr. Jean Nicolas Grou in The Spiritual Life).

August 20, 2017

Live in faith and hope though it be in darkness, for in this darkness God protects the soul.  Cast your care upon God for you are his and he will not forget you (St. John of the Cross).

October 12, 2017

That God is not fair is actually one among many reasons for gratitude, albeit in a way counterintuitive to our usual thinking.  The simple premise here is that God’s way is not our way, God’s love is not conditioned like our love,  God’s mercy is not bound as ours is, and God does not discriminate or reward a person according to the standards of a given society, no matter how widespread such criteria may be.  Thank God! (Daniel P. Horan, OFM, in God Is Not Fair, and Other Reasons for Gratitude).

December 25, 2017

“Hope is not merely a wish that something good might happen— it is the firm confidence and desire that the promises of God will be fulfilled” (Matthew Kelly in Beautiful Hope).

May 2, 2018

Hope is an eminently practical virtue; it is the virtue that drives far from our heart the specter of discouragement, the most frequent dangerous temptation in the spiritual life.  As the inseparable companion of suffering, it confirms and strengthens peace in our soul (Luis M. Martinez in When God is Silent).

May 10, 2018

God not only knows us, but he created us and sustains us in existence every moment of our lives.  God is wholly and entirely present to all things by his essence because, wherever he acts, his whole being is there; there is no separation of his action from his essence (Fr. Killian J. Healy, O. Carm, in Awakening Your Soul to the Presence of God).

May 11, 2018

Divine hope is not like earthly hope.  The latter is subject to disappointment, for however strong our security, it can either be realized or not realized.  Who is the fortunate person who has seen all his hopes fulfilled in this world?  But the theological virtue of hope is not subject to disappointment; it gives us the holy, invincible certainty that we shall obtain what God has promised (Luis M. Martinez in When God is Silent).

May 25, 2018

“With mind entire, faith firm, courage undaunted, love thorough, let us be ready for whatever God wills” (St. Bede the Venerable).

January 16, 2020

God’s love is like a river, living water seeking dry soil and withered roots.  To pray is to welcome more life, and more life will stretch and enlarge us until we can hold the mystery of God (Pat Marrin).

February 2, 2020

“If only we would permit ourselves not to see the present, but to gaze steadfastly with hope at thing a little more distant” (St. Basil).

Pdf file…  Child Jesus chaplet…

Links of interest…  Belief is hard, but nothing makes sense without God…  Catching a mental illness: One family’s story...  Child Jesus: about / chaplet (more) / devotion / miracles (books) / novena / of good health / reverence / shrine…  Dom Hubert Van Zeller: about / books (titles) / correspondence with Merton / Gospel priesthood / How to find God / spiritual writer’s cramp…  Don’t give in to discouragement: Finding hope in the trials of life…  Dwelling of faith, hope, & love…  Dying mother leaves “goodbye” cards for her daughter…  Finding hope in the midst of sleepless nights & challenging days…  Fortifying the virtue of fortitude…  Have confidence in God, even in difficulty…  How childhood trauma can give us lifelong chronic illness / to keep listening when God seems silent…  Infant of Prague blog…  Kierkegaard & the secret weapon against fear…  Luis M. Martinez: about (more) / books (more / titles) / hope that banishes fear / When God is silent…  Rejoice in hope…  Rosary of the seven dolors…  Seven sorrows of Mary…  St. Ambrose: 5 tips to boost your spiritual life…  St. Mother Theodore Guerin: about (daily quote – more) / biography / feast (Oct 3) / miracle (eye) / national shrine / novena / profile (more) / quotes…  Ten reasons to be filled with hope…

WP posts…  At long last…  Bearing one’s crosses…  Forever grateful…  St. Elizabeth Church…  St. Monica