Fr. Eugene Lobo, SJ –
Seventeenth Sunday of the Year July 24, 2022
Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13
The readings of today remind us of the necessity to persevere in our prayer life. Our prayer life is a reflection of our true faith in God. Prayer is understood as a form of communication, a way of talking to God, raising our hearts and minds to God.
In our prayer, we strengthen that recognition of the presence of God, which draws us closer to Him. If we truly have come to know God in faith, then this spiritual encounter has created a growing bond between the Father, Jesus, and us as individuals.
The Gospel invites us to encounter God in prayer, to experience his generous love, forgiveness, and compassion. Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer and teaches us to pray for the kingdom, our daily needs for life, forgiveness, and perseverance. In the kingdom of God, all are welcomed and there is familiarity and freedom.
In our first reading of today, Abraham is pleading for divine mercy as he was concerned that God would destroy Sodom where his nephew Lot was staying. God so highly regards the Patriarch that he decides to disclose to him the mission to Sodom and Gomorrah.
God tells him of the wickedness of these two towns. His trust in God is not yet so strong that he can imagine God sparing the innocent within the city. Through his discussion with God, he wins a reprieve for the city if just handful innocent righteous souls were found within the city.
Today’s Second Reading from the Letter to the Colossians reminds the converted Christians of the need to persevere in their living faith in Christ. It reminds them to live their lives in Jesus, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as we were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Through baptism, they had put their natural selves to death.
The Gospel passage of today could well be described as Luke’s catechism on Prayer. The disciples had often seen Jesus praying alone and sometimes spend a long time in prayer. They were anxious to learn some prayers from him, as John the Baptist had evidently taught his disciples some special prayers.
The motive for the teaching is a request by the disciples for some kind of prayer that would identify them as followers of Jesus. They now make a request of their rabbi to teach them to pray. In response to this request, Jesus gives them the prayer that we call today as Our Father.
Jesus teaches them to pray a series of petitions addressed to God under the title, “Abba.” This title is important in that it expresses deep intimacy and a close parental bond. It captures the relationship Jesus had with his Father, which he now hands over to the disciples as part of their self-understanding when they pray. It might be worth noting that Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray and not a prayer to say.
In response, Jesus says to them: “Say this when you pray…” and there follows what we know as the “Lord’s Prayer”. The version in today’s Gospel passage is from Luke is a shorter version than the version we have in Matthew.
Jesus begins the prayer by calling God, Abba Father a most endearing term used in a close parental bond. In our prayer, we recognize the awesome holiness of God who wants to share his very life with us. His holiness in no way depends on us. What we are rather asking for is that God’s holiness is acknowledged by us not only by our words but by the way we live.
The Kingdom of God that Jesus came to proclaim is understood as a world in which everything that God stands for becomes a reality in the lives of people everywhere – a world that is built on truth, love, compassion, justice, freedom, human dignity, peace.
In the second half of the prayer, we pray more directly for our own needs. And we begin with present needs. We ask God for today’s bread, food, and today’s material needs. Our trust in the divine providence must show that there is no need for worry and anxiety about the future. It also reminds us of the Eucharistic table. Further, we pray for our past sinful actions but our prayer is conditional, linking us once again to all those around us. We pray that God will forgive us all wrong we have done.
Jesus, however, does not stop by teaching his disciples how to pray. His catechesis on prayer ends with somewhat a humorous story meant to emphasize the necessity for perseverance in prayer. He tells a parable about a man wanting some bread in the middle of the night. This parable was indeed true to life. A friend had come travelling a long distance late at night. There was no bread in the house. So he goes to his neighbour with a request for bread. Naturally, his neighbour is reluctant to get up and give him some. The man outside was not going to be put off by one single refusal. The man does not get what he wants based on mutual friendship but gets it because he is persistent in his request.
Our prayer must be bold, for prayer is neither about trivial matters nor about a reminder to God but a close bond of the relationship of a parent and child. The message is clear enough. When we really want something from God, we must keep asking. “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”
Second, he reminds them that they are dealing with a loving and compassionate Father. Even human fathers will not give stones when their children asked for bread or scorpions when they asked for eggs. “How much more”, then, can we expect from the Father of all who is generous?
Jesus concluded His teaching by using three expressions to stress the need for perseverance in prayer saying that they must ask, search and knock. It does not mean God is slow in helping us but he wants to prove our sincerity and filial trust in him. It should be noted here that the reference to asking, searching, and knocking is a reference to requesting the Holy Spirit. For he says, “How much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”
The prayer of Jesus was always marked by simplicity and directness. Again and again, he raised his eyes to heaven and cried, Father, whether in the joy of raising Lazarus to life, or in the anguish of his bitter agony. He was aware of the power of his prayer and he knew that his Father was answering him.
He was confident in his trust in the Father and said during his Passion that if only he asks his Father he would send twelve legions of angels to defend him. However, his prayer was always to carry out the will of his Father even when things were difficult. Finally on the cross with his prayer on his lips, Jesus said, Father into your hands I commend my spirit. Being alone with God will make us feel closer to him.
Today we have from Jesus a formula for all prayers, namely the gift of the Our Father. This prayer contains the teaching of Jesus in its totality. God is addressed as our father. While this prayer is important for us it also is a guideline for us to keep our constant relationship with God. It involves forgiveness.
A member of a monastic order once committed a fault. A council was called to determine the punishment, but when the monks assembled it was noticed that Father Joseph was not among them. The superior sent someone to say to him, “Come, for everyone is waiting for you.” So Father Joseph got up and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water, and carried it with him. When the others saw this they asked, “What is this, father?” The old man said to them, “My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the error of another?”
Bill was a notorious and troublesome boy in the class. The Teacher was always finding it hard to control him and it was disturbing the whole class. She was sad. One day as the boy entered the class he found the teacher writing something in short-hand and the boy asked her out of curiosity, what she was writing. She told him quietly that it was a prayer. The boy asked her whether God knows short-hand and she said God knows everything and reads every heart. As she looked at the board the boy took the letter and hid it in his book. After several years when Bill was a successful man when he looked through his past materials found this note and out of curiosity took it to the office to translate. The clerk told him that the note said: Dear God I am finding it difficult to control Bill and he disturbs me. Please touch his heart. He is capable and he can be very good or very evil. Bill had tears in his eyes. He knew the prayers of his teacher were heard.