Does God really hear our prayer? Yes, indeed. God hears the cry of the poor! That's what today's Psalm tells us. And the First Reading says the same thing: "Praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!"
Jeremiah jubilantly proclaims God's power and faithfulness: "But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion," he says, "my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph."
These are beautiful words. But are they too good to be true? Does God really hear the cry of the poor? Let see the world.
What about the hundred thousand unborn babies worldwide who will be murdered in their mothers' wombs today? What about the millions of children worldwide who are trafficked into slavery every year? What about the many people throughout the world who will commit suicide today? What about the countless victims of natural disasters, war, and poverty? What about the agonizing moral and emotional suffering hidden in our own hearts and our neighbors'?
Is the Lord really with us? Is he really a mighty champion? The answer is Yes.
Not a sparrow alights on the ground without the Father's knowledge. Every hair on every head is counted.
Jesus used those striking images so that there would be absolutely no doubt left in our minds: God is watching over all of us and guiding the course of history - nothing escapes his providential care. And if it ever seems otherwise, that's only because we are not looking at the whole story.
Reality, Jesus teaches us, includes eternity. "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." God's Providence is real. It will never let us down. Every evil deed will be set right, and every prayer will be answered.