God’s timing can frequently be at odds with our impatient desires, expectations, and anxieties. Saint Mark doesn’t tell us what was going through the mind of Jairus when Jesus interrupted his journey to establish who in the crowd had touched him. It’s fair to assume that they weren’t happy thoughts as every second that Jesus delayed lessened the chances of saving his dying child. Indeed, this is precisely what happens and Jesus ends up not curing her, but needing to call her back to life. We don’t know if the delay was intentional (as was the case when Lazarus was sick), or if he was simply distracted and delayed by the woman who touched him; but what is clear is that the final outcome for the dying daughter was so much more powerful than her being cured would have been. In this case the delay was an occasion for a greater and more perfect grace. Many of our seemingly unanswered prayers may thus not be unanswered, but represent God’s waiting for the right time to grant them. An invitation to trust, then, as did Agatha, in the infinite goodness of God as we entrust our petitions to him.