October 1, 2025 // Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Nehemiah 2:1-8
Reflect on the Word //
When my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer a few years ago, I remember crying out to the Lord. Once we knew our dad was dying, I asked that I would feel the Lord’s presence as we walked my dad home to Jesus. “Lord,” I cried out, “please allow me to somehow feel peace and joy and your presence in this sad and scary time.”
The day my dad died, as we surrounded him in his final hours, the grace was palpable. The joy of the Lord was upon us. The Father was standing beside us, comforting us in the midst of our sadness.
In today’s First Reading, Nehemiah gets everything he asks for. When he asks to travel, and to be gone for a while, and for safe travel and even for wood to rebuild, the king grants it: “The king granted my requests, for the favoring hand of my God was upon me” (Nehemiah 2:8).
Like the king did for Nehemiah, the Lord answered my requests for my father’s death. His favoring hand was upon me.
We are as lucky as Nehemiah. We have a King Who gives us every single good thing we ask for. It’s easy sometimes to focus on all the ways our prayers don’t get answered. Our team lost. We didn’t get the promotion. Our loved one wasn’t healed. If we look at prayer as transactional, it’s tempting to keep track of the times we didn’t get our way. We might feel slighted by God or even abandoned by Him. But what about the times when we ask for something that really mattered—like peace or joy or the grace to make it through something really difficult?
When we look at our prayers through a lens of God’s goodness, when we see our requests through a broader lens, we are in tune with all the ways the Lord has answered our prayers. We have a good Father and He wants to give us every good thing we need. He is the good King, granting our requests and showing us His favor.
Relate to the Lord // How has the Lord’s favoring hand been upon you? Make a list and thank Him!
Rachel Balducci has a Masters degree from the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia and teaches at Augusta University. She and her husband Paul have five sons and one daughter and are part of an intentional Christian community in Augusta, Georgia. Rachel is the author of several books and is the co-host of The Gist of CatholicTV. Find out more about her here.
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