Homily (Reflection) for
the Twenty-Ninth Sunday
of the Year, (C) (16th October, 2016) on the Gospel
Ex 17:8-13;
Ps 120. (R. cf. v.
2);2Tim 3:14 – 4:2;
Lk 18:1-8.
One man suffering
from arthritis was visited by one of his neighbours in need. Because the
disease sometimes makes walking very difficult for him, there is an intercom that
aids him communicate with other people in other parts of the building. After his
neighbour had narrated his problems and what he was looking for through the
intercom, as a way of exercising himself on one part and also to show concern,
the man decided to go downstairs by himself and offer the much needed help. Because
he could not reach briskly, by the time he reached downstairs, his neighbour
was nowhere to be found. He had gone to seek for help from somewhere else
thinking that the man might never come down eventually despite the fact that he
told him that he was coming.
Topic: Pray like who you are.
In general, different people have
different ways of seeing things and this includes how they relate with others
including their creator. For example, magicians and those patronizing them expect
spectacular and quick responses. They
also expect the exact things they want and the way they want them happen, cf. Acts 8:9-19. Pagans think that being
verbose and lots of sacrifices will make them receive what they ask for and
fast too, cf. Matt 6:7. Christians are
taught to pray not just for their needs but above all for the will of God to be
done. This is made manifest in the Lord’s prayer among other places, cf. Matt 6:10; 26:42, Heb 10:7, 9 because
it is by God’s will that we exist and were created, cf. Rev 4:11. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego relied on the will of God
despite their faithfulness, cf. Dan
3:16-18. It is important to note that some Christians today including the
leaders do approach God either as magicians or pagans or both.
Before going further, we should not see this parable as a
way of comparing the unjust judge with God. No! Just like the parable of that
friend who went to borrow from his friend at midnight, cf. Lk 11: 5-13, the message is “If
you then, who are evil, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:13).
The widow in today’s gospel was an example for all on how
steadfast we should be at prayer. For Barclay, she “was a symbol of all who are
poor and defenceless”[1].
Being poor here refers to any form of lack at all. This widow was persistent because
she had no other means of getting justice. It is the correct Christian
disposition towards God in prayer; we should never see God as an alternative.
Hence the first verse of this gospel reading, gave us the essence of the parable
as the “need to pray always and not to
lose heart” whether one receives what he or she prays for immediately or
not.
How many of us still pray to God as Christians? Unlike the
widow in the gospel, we tend to do like the man we saw in our introductory
story. Jumping from one place to another is so common today that we don’t even
see anything wrong in it. As we pray, we should always remember the last verse
of the gospel, “… when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” That
is, when God turns towards you for that thing that you are asking for, where
will you be – in His house or the house of the devil? Even when it appears to
be delayed, it must surely come to pass, cf. Hab 2:3, unless it is not God’s will.
Although Jesus enjoined us to “Ask, and it will be given
you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matt 7:7), we ought to pray always, (cf.
1Thess 5:17) not just for one problem
or another. Apostle Paul asks us to “Pray at all times in the Spirit ...” (Eph 6:18). Praying in the Spirit is
praying in accordance with the Spirit of God which has been sent into our hearts
and is crying "Abba! Father!" cf. Gal 4:6. Hence, Saint Jude wrote, “But you, beloved, build
yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20). As we calculate how long we
have prayed for, we must remember the
bitter truth that “... we do not
know how to pray as we ought, but the
Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” (Rom 8:26). That is to say Matt 7:7 holds when we pray according
to the Holy Spirit. If this is anything to go by, one might be asking for one thing
and the Spirit in him or her asking for something else and we know that God
listens to His Spirit, cf. 1Cor 2:11.
That you are alive today might be simply an answer to the prayer made by the
Spirit of God in you.
I would like us to take two things from the Letter of Saint
James – the importance of prayer and the object of our prayer:
You desire and do not have; so you
kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not
have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask
wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures (Jas 4:2-3).
That intention you have prayed for is it not for your
pleasures?
When the author of the Letter to the Hebrews asked for
prayers, he noted that they had clear conscience, cf. Heb 13:18. What does our consciences look like even as we are now
before God? We must be at peace with God before raising our hands before him
because the prayer of the righteous man has great power in its effects, cf. Jas 5:16. There is need for our minds
to agree with the Spirit of God in our prayer, cf. 1Cor 14:15.
Bible Reading: Lk 11:5-13, Heb 10:7-10, Jas
4:1-10; Dan 3:1-24.
Thought for today: Pray like a Christian.
Let
us pray with the Psalmist: “Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God!
Let thy good spirit lead me on a level path!” (Ps 143:10).
Lord, help us to pray in agreement with
your Holy Spirit that is in us according to thy holy will – Amen.
You
are free to share this reflection with others if you consider it worthy.
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May God bless you all+
[1]
Barclay, W., (2006). The daily study bible, the gospel of Luke,
IV. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, p. 222.
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