"Jesus told His disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary." The call of all disciples of Jesus to pray is unconditional. Prayer is our dialogue and union with God. Without prayer, we lose our faith. If prayer was always easy, convenient, and consoling then it wouldn't make sense for Jesus to tell us to pray without becoming weary. When we are tired, desolate, impatient, or defeated it can be difficult to persevere in prayer. Yet these hard moments always bring forth the most fruit when we persist in prayer through them.

In today's Gospel, the apostles ask the Lord for one of the most beautiful and perilous gifts. They say to Jesus, "Increase our faith." Faith indeed is a gift that bestows a beautiful and glorious power to act in God's name, but it also comes with the dangerous but worthwhile cost of putting God first in everything.