Persisting in hope. When parents teach their children to take responsibility for themselves and their own behavior things do not always go smoothly. Children sometimes forget what they’ve been taught, or fail to see its importance. It takes a certain amount of persistence on the part of both parent and child before the hope of independence is realized. We see that same need for persistence and hope—both for God and us—mirrored in today’s readings and embodied by the way we pray.