The Miracle Man of Montreal
(Ex.17:8-13; 2Tim.3:14-4:2; Lk.18:1-8)
It might seem unlikely, but there’s a connection between the movie Finding Nemo and the Canadian St André Bessette. Let’s explore it.
Finding Nemo is the story of a clownfish named Nemo who is caught off Australia and placed in an aquarium. His father, Marlin, is horrified, and knows he must look for him, despite being scared of the open sea. Then he meets Dory, a happy blue tang-fish with a poor memory.
Together, they search the ocean, meeting sharks, turtles and hungry seagulls, but they can’t find Nemo. Marlin is tempted to give up, but Dory says, ‘Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…’
In other words, keep going, even if it all seems hopeless.
There’s a similar message in today’s Gospel, in Jesus’ parable of the widow who demands justice. An unjust judge is ignoring her pleas, but she refuses to give up and in the end the judge surrenders to keep her quiet.
Jesus tells this story not to say that God is reluctant or unfair, but to remind us to pray always and to never lose heart.
Like Marlin and this widow, we all face times when we are tempted to give up – in our prayer, work, relationships or faith. We ask God for help or for healing and he doesn’t seem to answer. But these two stories tell us to persist.
Why does Marlin keep going? Because of love. This is the key to persistence. It’s not about knowing the outcome; it’s about refusing to give up on the one we love.
It’s the stubborn endurance of love that refuses to give up on God, even when the road is dark.
As St Paul says, ‘Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer’ (Rom.12:12). This is what Jesus is trying to teach us today.
The Canadian Saint André Bessette is a fine example of this persistence.
Born in Quebec in 1845, he was the eighth of twelve children. He was always sickly, had little education and was orphaned at 12. He tried working as a farmhand, and as a shoemaker, baker and blacksmith, but failed at them all. Then, at 25 he tried to join a novitiate in Montreal.
André always had a strong faith and a lively devotion to St Joseph, but he was rejected because of his poor health. However, after the bishop’s intervention he was accepted as a doorkeeper, a lowly position he held for 40 years.
There André warmly greeted visitors and helped in the sacristy and laundry. His real work, however, was prayer. Countless sick, poor and troubled people came to his door seeking help, and he responded by asking St Joseph to intercede for them.
Many miracles followed and his reputation spread. But André wouldn’t accept any praise. He always insisted that St Joseph had arranged these cures.
He was very keen to increase devotion to St Joseph and he hoped his college would build a shrine across the road. But the property owners wouldn’t sell, so he planted medals of St Joseph around the land and prayed some more.
Suddenly, the owners agreed, and by offering to cut people’s hair André managed to raise the money to build a small chapel which opened in 1904. He welcomed the visitors and miracles followed – a great pile of crutches, canes and braces grew there.
But the chapel was soon too small, so André prayed even more. Today, there’s a magnificent Oratory on Mount Royal that receives two million visitors a year. It’s the largest church in Canada, and its chapels are filled with the testimonies and crutches of people healed through his prayers.
André once said: ‘It’s with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most beautiful pictures.’ His life was proof of Jesus’ promise that the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective (Jas.5:16).
When he died in 1937, aged 91, a million people came to pay their respects, despite the freezing winter. He was canonised by Pope Benedict in 2010, and today he’s known as the Miracle Man of Montreal.
Marlin, the widow in Jesus’ parable and St André Bessette all teach us that persistence isn’t nagging God into giving us what we want. It’s love refusing to give up.
In the end, Marlin found Nemo, the widow received justice, and André’s prayers were answered.
So, let me ask: where in your life do you need this kind of endurance? Is it in your prayer for someone who is struggling?
Is it in your trust during a time of illness, grief or loss?
Or is it in the slow work of forgiveness, when reconciliation seems impossible?
Jesus assures us: if even an unjust judge eventually relents, how much more will our loving Father listen to his children who cry to him day and night?
When it all seems too hard, remember Dory’s words: ‘Just keep swimming.’