17^th Sunday, Year C: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Prayer: A Dialogue with a Benevolent Father

Readings: Gen 18:20 -32; Col 1:12-14; Lk 11:1-13

Dear friends in Christ, on this seventeenth Sunday of the year, the Church emphasizes the significance of intercessory prayer and the importance of persistence/perseverance in our prayers. As Christians, prayer serves as a means of communication between us and our God. Through prayer, we commune with God, open our hearts to Him, and gain insight into His plan for our lives. It is often said that ‘a prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian.’ Therefore, prayer is an essential weapon in the spiritual and physical battles Christians face in this world.

Today’s gospel opens our minds to an important knowledge about our God. It reveals that our God is benevolent. Frequently, we hear people express sentiments such as 'God did not respond to my prayer,’ 'God has disappointed me,’ 'God is silent,' and so forth. A similar expression of frustration, after seeking God's intervention during perilous and challenging times, was voiced by Job in the Bible. The book of Psalms contains numerous chapters dedicated to such lamentations. Nevertheless, in today's gospel, Jesus reassures us that our God will not fail to provide what is beneficial for us. He stated, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” I appreciate how the Gospel of Matthew articulates this. It says, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Dear friends, although we are frail human beings often susceptible to wrongful actions and decisions, we do not hesitate to provide good things when our children request them. If we can be this benevolent towards our children, how much more will God, our Father, who embodies all goodness, be willing to grant good things to those He has created, His children who seek His assistance?

Consequently, Jesus encouraged us to ask, and we shall receive; seek, and we shall find; and knock, and the door will be opened to us. However, how should we ask? How should we knock? And how should we seek? In addressing these questions, Jesus recounted the story of the importunate friend who, despite initially receiving a negative response to his request, continued to knock at his friend's door until his request was granted. This illustrates that Jesus is urging us to be persistent in our prayers to God. We should not merely knock at God's door and then vanish when it has not opened. Instead, we ought to knock and patiently wait until we have been heard. And once we have been heard, we must trust that God's response is in our best interest, for God cannot fail to provide what is beneficial for us in accordance with His divine will and plan.

Today’s first reading gives us some important lessons as we approach God's door to knock. First, it reiterates the importance of persistence in prayer. The angels of God were en route to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy them due to their sins, particularly their sin of sexual perversion. It is regrettable that the sin of sexual perversion, which was one of the major reasons for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by God, is now being promoted by many nations as a human right. It is disheartening that the very sin of homosexuality, for which God obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah, is regarded as something good in our generation, with many Christians endorsing such views. May God help us.

When Abraham saw God's wrath towards Sodom and Gomorrah, he knelt down and prayed. In his prayer, he remained persistent until he received a favourable answer for his relatives residing in those cities. We must always pray without losing hope.

Secondly, the prayer of Abraham illustrates that prayer ought to be a dialogue with God, two-way communication rather than a one-sided affair. In a dialogue, no single individual dominates the conversation; instead, all participants have the opportunity to express their thoughts, as demonstrated in the narrative of Abraham. Abraham spoke and also listened to God’s responses. This crucial element of attentively hearing God's responses during prayer is frequently overlooked in the prayer life of many Christians. Thus, the Church today reminds us that prayer must be a dialogue between us and God, a conversation that enables us to hear from God and to understand His will through silent meditation and reflection, particularly on the scriptures.

Another important lesson is that prayer should not solely be for the benefit of the individual praying. Every Christian is called to be an intercessor for the well-being of others. In the first reading, Abraham interceded on behalf of his nephew, Lot, his family, and other righteous individuals in Sodom and Gomorrah, and they were saved. Our prayers can save our loved ones from calamity. Our unwavering intercession can lead to the salvation of souls in our communities. Therefore, let us commit ourselves to being intercessors today. Let us consistently dedicate time to pray for the intentions of others with perseverance and confidence.

Peace be with you. Have a beautiful Sunday.

Rev. Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

 17^TH SUNDAY, YEAR C: REFLECTION BY FR. JULIAN EKEH

TRUE PRAYER: A DIALOGUE WITH GOD

(Luke 11:1-13)

The word of God today takes our mind to something very special and inescapable in our relationship with God, namely, prayer. This is one thing that has become so common and yet commonly misunderstood. What many seem to know about prayer is actually what it is not. What myriads take to be prayer in reality is misconception. What we have believed prayer to be is indeed not what the author of Christian prayer has defined it to be.

 

WHAT IS PRAYER?

Prayer has been variously defined. It is understood as the raising up of mind and heart to God. It is seen as communication with God. It is taken to be a form of dialogue with God. This is true. Hence, the Igbo Catechism calls it "nkariuka anyi na Nna anyi Chineke, iji too Ya gozie Ya, kelee ya maka ihe oma Ọ na emere anyi biakwa riọ ya ọgọ maka ihe ndi na-akpa anyi na ibe anyi". The above implies that prayer has to do with dialogue with God in order to worship and glorify Him, appreciating Him for His goodness and requesting for our needs and those of others. We saw this in the intercessory prayer of Abraham to God for Sodom and Gomorrah.

Today, prayer is not just presented to us as a practice, as a show, or as fun. No! Prayer is seen as a life.

 

THE LIFE OF JESUS: A REFLECTION OF PRAYER

Jesus is indeed the Man of Prayer. A good number of times, the apostles saw Him at prayers. The disciples were not novices in prayers. The Jews were known to pray a good number of times in a day. Their synagogues and temple were designated places of prayer. They must have been praying. Also, some of His followers were formally disciples of John the Baptist. So they knew what prayer is. But in Jesus, they saw a different type of prayer. They saw a life punctuated with prayers. They saw a life synonymous with prayers. They saw a unique way of praying they had never witnessed. They asked the Lord to teach them how to pray.

Do you have the desire to pray? Do you actually pray like Christ since you are a Christian? Do you think that those things that you feel make your prayer a prayer is actually what makes it one? What's special about Jesus' way of praying?

 

 LEARNING FROM THE SCHOOL OF JESUS, THE MASTER OF PRAYER

Jesus communicates always in an intimate way with God. Yes, God is high above, but in Jesus' prayer, God is brought very close. The conversation becomes a heart to heart one, a friend with friend talk, an interesting one indeed. The fact remains that when one is in   conversation with his beloved, hours spent is like a minute. Seeing all these, the apostles couldn't help but ask:  "Lord, teach us to pray." They have really seen Jesus as master in the matter of prayers. Jesus begins the teaching.  Prayer is communal and personal. As individuals, we should know how to pray to God as Father of us all. Prayer is a relationship with God and with one another.

 

WORDS OF PRAYER

Jesus gave them the words they should use in praying.  He taught them how to pray like Himself. He made them understand that they are sons of the same Father. That God is their one and only loving Father. Thus, they should relate to God, like friends do. It is a relationship of love. It is an invitation to dialogue with God like Jesus. This is what we do when we pray.

 

WAYS OF PRAYERS

How to pray is the question. A lot of people pray following "a man of God's way." Jesus is the way to the Father. He has shown us the way. Let us follow Him and recognize too that prayer is not only the words we say. What we do and our silent recognition of the Almighty power is part of prayers. Let us not emulate the self-acclaimed prayer warriors.  Let us live prayers. Let us not think that it is how loud we shout that make our prayers heard. Let us see prayers as talk and listen affairs. Not just talking. May we give God the opportunity to talk to us when we are at prayers. Let us be docile to His will. Let us humble ourselves before Him just like His children that we are.

Many people are suffering from spiritual low self-esteem. They think they must speak in tongues before they are heard. They believe they must use special forms of diction. They think they must sing and jump up before being convinced they have prayed.

 

PRAY PERSISTENTLY AND WITH CONFIDENCE

The persistence with which friends talk to each other is interesting. It is a trusting type of persistence. Jesus gives us the confidence to call God our Father. To pray to him in our unique way. No two sons approach their parents the same way. Each son develops his special way of approaching his father.

TIME FOR PRAYERS

Always is the time. Pray always and never lose heart is the instruction.

 

 WHAT TO DO WITH PRAYERS: ASK- SEEK- KNOCK

ASK

In confusion about which way to go, what to do, and so on and forth, prayer is the only way. God has the final answer to all our problems.

SEEK

The face of God is the only source of our joy. The psalmist would say it is your face, oh Lord, that I seek. Hide not your face. What have you lost?  Your joy, your peace, Divine mercy? Prayer is the only true way of finding.

KNOCK

The Lord gives us access to His Sacred Heart. His heart is never locked. He's not like the man who would not open the door because it is night. He opens new opportunities to us, and he opens the door to us to enter into a deep relationship with Him. He never keeps us outside his mercy. When we knock, He opens.

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND OUR PRAYERS

The jump to the Holy Spirit in the Gospel is worthy of note. Through prayers and asking, God gives us the greatest of all our desires. He even knows that we may not know how best to pray. Our prayers may have some limitations. The Holy Spirit prays in us with sighs deeper than words. Prayer here in the Spirit is something more than lips service. Jesus would say that true worshippers will worship in spirit and in truth.

May God bless His word in our hearts.

 

LET US PRAY

Oh God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, you taught us how to pray. Answer our prayers, wipe our tears, and grant all our petitions with favour. Let each day of our life open to us a dialogue with You. May our daily conversation with You bring us true conversion, forgiveness of our sins, and true peace with You who lives and reigns with Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen

Happy Sunday to you (17th Sunday, Ordinary Time, Yr. C)

May your prayer be acceptable in God's sight.

Rev Fr. Julian O Ekeh