Prayer Request

A reader writes:

I have a prayer request. Actually, two.

1) I’ve been unemployed for 5 months, and I’m still unable to find work. I’m getting interviews, but ultimately(even when it seems very likely I’ll get the position) I’m rejected. I was even told by one company they were going to hire me, only for them to back out without explanation. I’ve been living off a credit card for 3 of the 5 months and I’m worried about what will happen when it becomes too much to pay off.

2) Unemployment has been eating at my religious faith. I’m a convert from unbelief, so it comes easily. I went to Mass today but didn’t receive because I felt it was in bad faith to consume the Eucharist feeling as I do. My Catholicism feels completely dead, nothing but actions and words devoid of meaning. I feel like inertia and social pressure are the only things keeping me there.

Well, okay, make it 3:

3) The extended unemployment has also made me very depressed, and I’ve been thinking more and more about killing myself if I can’t find something within the next few months. I don’t know how I can continue like this for another 5 months.

Father, we ask that you would grant your servant the grace to see that this time in the desert is a gift, not a curse, and that from it he would realize that his value comes from the fact that he is a human being, not a human doing. Give him the grace and strength to chose life and love, no matter what. Once this period in his life is past (and it will pass, we trust you for that) show him how he can extend hope and mercy to others suffering what he is suffering. In your time, give him the work and provision he needs so that he may best serve you. Mother Mary and St. Joseph the Worker, pray for him. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.