Sr. Ann Shields at the 2017 Lift Jesus Higher Rally in Toronto, Ontario.

At the 2017 Lift Jesus Higher Rally, Sr. Ann Shields stressed the importance of prayer in difficult situations—and the importance of persevering in prayer, even if things only seem to get worse. She explained, “That means the enemy and God have actively engaged.”

“If any of you are feeling discouraged by something in your family, keep praying,” she said. “The light shines in the darkness, and your prayers and mine, by the grace of God, will be allowed to have an effect.”

Sr. Ann explained that those who have Christ’s light are called to bear “that light to others.”

She encouraged people to pray with confidence, and to trust that even when they don’t know what the Lord is doing, they can say to Him, “I know who You are.”

“I want you to have hope and a growing faith,” she said. “We need to be a channel of God’s light by daily prayer—crying out to God. We need to pray for ourselves and our families. Keep praying, even when you see things going in the opposite direction.

“I think one of the greatest graces God wants to give us an increase of faith. Whatever our level of faith is, God wants to increase it. God wants us to be light in the darkness. Our lives need to more clearly reflect Him . . . which we can do by honest admission of sin and frequent reconciliation.”