29th Sunday in Ordinary time
Now, will not God see justice done to his elect if they keep calling to him day and night even though he still delays to help them? Luke 18: 7
Intro: Sometimes, almost like petulant, huffy children, we just get fed up praying, for a variety of reasons .. too tired .. no right to ask a God Whom we ignore until we're in trouble .. or He never listens anyway. Today, Jesus tells us to ask God for what we want; and also to be patient and allow God His time to answer our prayer in His way!
Readings: As long as Moses, with help from his supporters Aaron and Hur, kept his arms outstretched like the crucified Christ, his people were victorious in battle with the Amalekites.
Paul tells Timothy to have confidence in his message, and persevere in preaching the message of faith.
Exodus 17: 8 -13;
2 Timothy 3: 14 - 4:2;
Luke 18: 1-8;
I came across a wonderful quote: "Whoever thinks little ones have no power, has never been to bed with a mosquito." In today's story, Jesus uses an outrageous story He might have heard on the streets of Jerusalem about a nagging widow to make a point about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.
The first reading gives us the same message - the Amalekites stand for the forces of sin (Amalek = a sinful people, according to St. Augustine) and whenever the Israelites went into battle against them, as long as Moses prayed with his arms outstretched, (prefiguring the crucifixion, and also the "orante"), they won; when he dropped them, they were overcome.
The widow seems to eventually win her case through her nagging persistence. As an elder, the judge would have known that Jewish religious Law allowed him to lay aside the rules of impartiality in favour of the widow, the orphan or the stranger. But that's not his reason: he simply wanted to get the widow off his back. So prayer works: persist and God will grant whatever we want; give up, and you can forget it!
Maybe a bit simplistic, but it's important to pray for what we actually want, for those things which are important to us. I suppose we're all a bit off about "asking" God for things - it's bad taste .. it's unworthy, because we should simply be worshipping Him instead of pestering Him, and all children (and parents!) are aware of the power of pestering!
Often we hear people saying that they've given up praying because God hasn't answered their prayer. Yet no prayer is left unanswered by God. Sometimes, He
doesn't do so immediately, in the way that we see Jesus responding to requests for healing in the Gospels. But what's more important to remember than anything, is to realise that prayer doesn't change God as much as it changes us! Of course He knows what we want, even before we begin our prayer; but He calls us to express
that prayer so that we may see more clearly what we really want, like the Spice Girls!
And so we may find that, as we pray, we become the ones who are gradually
changed. Prayer can transform our desires, as Jesus found in the Garden of Gethsemane where He came to accept His Father's will. It didn't save Him from His
crucifixion, but it did lead to His resurrection. His prayer was answered eventually - "Your will be done."
The best way to learn to pray is by doing it. Take time to be silent for a while, ask for what you really want - what you really, really want! and then persevere in that
prayer. Let our prayer be an expression of our faith in God, so that, like the widow of the Gospel, we may believe that the Lord can - and will! - keep His promise.
Intercessions
Our faith assures us that God not only hears, but answers, every prayer. With confidence, then, we place these our prayers before Him:-
1. For our holy Father and his fellow bishops. May they always be sensitive to the needs of the poor and marginalised peoples of our world. Give them the grace and strength they need to continue their ministry of preaching and teaching - Lord, hear us.
2. For rulers and governments, particularly our own, may they deliver what's best for our country - Lord, hear us.
3. For all those who feel abandoned because their prayers seem to go unanswered. Give them a true sense of peace, and a clearer understanding of Your enduring love for them - Lord, hear us.
4. For ourselves. Support the little faith that we have, so that we may persevere in asking for what is in accordance with Your will, and accepting what is really and truly good for us - Lord, hear us.
5. Welcome into Your loving presence all who have died, especially those who are near and dear to us: Jim Gentle and Pat McCann, together with Monsignor Peter Smith, Johm Millar, Joseph McIntyre, John Gallagher, Jim & Peter Murphy, whose anniversaries occur about now- Lord, hear us.
Lord our God, grant us the time to seek and to find You, so that we may offer prayers which are in accordance with Your will.