Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Intro: our readings today open with Abraham trying to bargain with God, and move on to Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray. Most of us try the same trick - bargaining with God, trying to get Him to answer our prayers or demanding what we want, rather than trusting Him to give us what's best for us.
Readings: Genesis tells us how Abraham attempts to plea-bargain with God on behalf of the innocent, much as a child would with its parents.
The Jewish Colossian converts wanted to restrict pagan converts to the old Jewish laws. Paul makes it clear that Christ has rescued everyone from the necessity of keeping the letter of the law, be cause His love and forgiveness are total and absolute.
Genesis 18: 20-32;
Colossians2: 12-14;
Luke 11: 1-13
What a weight off your shoulders, what a sense of relief it would be, if your mortgage, your credit cards and all your other debts, were paid off completely, at a stroke, and you had the chance to start all over again.
Today's readings focus on God's mercy, justice and forgiveness; Abraham bargains - pesters - wheedles - with God, while Jesus Himself teaches us to pray with persistence.
So just what is a "good " prayer? Is it wrong to pray for wealth, possessions, success, happiness? Is it allowable to pray for God to defeat our enemies .. or even the opposing football team?
Whatever we pray for, it should always be for the good of others, or even of ourselves. It should never be seen as a chance to use God like some genie in a bottle, ours to command. Prayer is always an act of trust in God's love, and a willingness to go wherever He wants to lead us. The main point to bear in mind is that God always listens. He's never impatient, never gets fed up with our persistence. We can be more confident in God even more than we are with the best of our friends, the one we'd tum to first in a crisis. We needn't ever be afraid.
Prayer is all about connecting. Like plugging in an electrical appliance or logging on to the internet, prayer won't work unless we make that connection in the first place. It's our way of connecting to God, enabling us to communicate - both to listen and to speak. A good conversation is enjoyable; but in order to allow it to flow, each party needs enough mutual respect, honesty and humility to genuinely listen and hear what the other is saying.
We see precisely that in our Gospel, as a neighbour knocks his friend's door, asking to borrow the equivalent of a cup of sugar. No late night supermarkets open to midnight in those days!. What's so important in the story is the persistence of the man who is knocking.
Jesus encourages us to speak freely to God, and give voice to our longings. But it's also good to make time for stillness and reflection every day, otherwise God can't fit into our busy lives. Of course, prayer can be difficult at times when, apparently, it'd not heard as when Jesus prayed, "Father, if it be Your will, let this chalice pass from Me." The next morning brought Him to His painful death on Calvary. So it helps if we make it a daily habit - an ongoing conversation with God - telling Him about the state of our health, the well-being of our family and friends, thanking Him for the blessings which He's given us.
I began by talking about being free of mortgage or credit card debt. Multiply that joy a million times, and realise that your relationship with God can be free, trusting and loving - the one Friend Who will never, ever let you down, no matter what. So prayer isn't just a matter of asking for what we want ... in praying, we get to know God and deepen our love for the One Who not only saves us, but reveals to us in the depths of our hearts what we really, really want. What a friend we have in Jesus! He won’t ever, let you down, no matter what.
Intercessions
With complete confidence in God's friendship and love, we come before Him, with all our needs:-
I. For the Church. May She continue to proclaim and offer Your mercy, compassion and love to all - Lord, hear us.
2. For the nations of our one world. May world leaders learn how to practise justice and truth, so that their peoples may live in harmony with each another - Lord, hear us.
3. For these who feel they can't pray, and for those who have walked away from You because they felt their prayers were unanswered in times of hardship, disappointment or bereavement. May they experience Your love and compassion in a more positive way - Lord, hear us.
4. For ourselves. Give us the confidence to know and realise that You will always love us, no matter what we have said or done, or how far away we have wandered from You - Lord, hear us.
5. Remember Brian Gallagher, Mick Burke. Alec Foster and Nancy Williamson who put their trust in You while they lived, togerher with Danny McAllister, Frank Cairns Lafferty, Flora Smillie and Catherine Lloyd, whose anniversaries occur about this time. Through the passion and death of Your own Son, grant them the remission of all their sins - Lord, hear us.
God our Father, hear us as we ask, open to us as we knock, help us as we search for You. Above all, renew in us the gift of Your Holy Spirit, so that we may always be open and obedient to what You want of us.