Good morning and welcome to our Advent moment podcast.  Thanks to Mary Tyrrell for sharing a short reflection on today’s Gospel, Matthew, Chapter 9 verses 27 to 31.  have a friend who is a pastor, if people asked him to pray for them . He would say, ok, let’s do it now (it didn’t matter if it was in the middle of Tesco’s).But he found that it was most often people of faith who did not want him to do that  because they feared the  prayer ‘might not work.’ I’m not particularly talking about desperate needs like this story. Two desperate men shouting after Jesus “Take pity on us “. I must confess I stop here every time I read this scripture. Take pity. It’s such an impassioned plea. There’s no flannel or flatterery  just an honest earnest expression of their real need. Jesus didn’t say whether he would heal them, he asked, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’. So their healing was dependent on their faith. We know nothing about the practice  of their faith  but they had faith as they were healed and sent on their way with orders to keep the miracle to themselves. Two question come into my mind, Do I know my own desperate need? And how deep is my faith?       Let us pray:Lord, I believe in you. I love and believe that you what best is for me in all situations. I believe you always answer my prayers even if it is not in the way I expect. And when I doubt your love, forgive me. I pray for people with any desperate need especailly those whose lives are challenged  by poverty, unemployment, addictions and especially by the lack of love.  Amen. Thank you for joining us today   #advent #podcast #reflection #religion #spirituality #faith #christmas