Homily, 17th Sunday Ordinary Time, C
Fr. Paul D. Williams, Jr., St. Joseph's, Dalton, GA
I once heard a program on public radio that talked about various scientific experiments that sought to prove that prayer is truly effective. Apparently, over the years, many medical professionals have been interested in this question, setting up studies to see if sick people who are prayed for fare better than those who are not prayed for. Some of the studies have indeed shown that there does appear to be some relationship between prayer and patients getting well more quickly. But they’ve had trouble setting up truly scientific studies, because it’s hard to contain all the variables, especially in matters spiritual. One experiment, though, the scientists claimed proved that prayer was effective. In it, they got two test tubes filled with an identical amount of a growing bacteria and asked various prayer groups to pray for one and not the other. And each time, the one that was prayed for grew faster than the other.
Now, listening to this on the radio, I was fascinated, since my background is in science. But the priest in me said, wait a second. They’ve missed the whole point, indeed it makes you wonder if these scientists truly understand what prayer is. Prayer is not a power of the mind that causes things to happen in some sort of magical or paranormal way, and God is not some big source of impersonal energy that can be manipulated by our prayers and his response measured scientifically.
Instead, prayer is, as Jesus explains in the Gospel today, a conversation with a loving Father who cares about us, knows our needs, and wants to give us all that is good for us. If a reluctant and sleepy friend will give in to a persistent friend knocking at his door, how much more will the heavenly Father respond to you when you knock on his door. And, as Jesus says, “If you with all your sins, know how to give your children good things, how much more will the heavenly Father give to those who ask him.”
So Jesus defines prayer in terms of a loving relationship, as St. Therese of Lisieux would say, “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” (CCC2258) And St. Teresa of Avil defines prayer this way, “in my opinion, it is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” (CCC2709)
Jesus says, “Ask and you shall receive…” but we’ve all experienced times when we’ve asked but not received. Why is this? Well, St. Augustine explains it this way: “Pray for temporal goods in private, and rest in the knowledge that they come to us from him who knows what is best for us. Did you ask and not get what you wanted? Trust in your Father. If it would have been good for you, you would have received it. Before God, you are much as a little child is before you. All day long, the child cries his eyes out so that you will give him a knife to play with. You wisely refuse his plea and pay no attention to his wailing… You deny him small things so as to preserve more important things.”
So God is generous, but he is also wise, knowing what is best for us. As the new catechism says, “Our Father knows what we need before we ask him, but he awaits our petition because the dignity of his children lies in their freedom. We must pray then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be able to truly know what he wants.” So, if we want our prayer to be effective, we first have to learn to trust him. Pope John Paul said that to learn who the Father is means learning what absolute trust is. And that’s why Jesus taught us the “Our Father.” It has been called the “summary of the whole Gospel” and the “most perfect of prayers.” (CCC 2774) And in it, we learn and show absolute trust in God. We praise him, praying for his kingdom and his will to be done on earth, trusting that his plan for us is for the good of all. We ask him to give us our daily bread, which is symbolic of all our necessities, trusting that he will give us what we truly need. We pray for his mercy, and we pray for protection from evil. In short, in this prayer, we place everything in his hands: our hopes, our needs, our very lives.
But second, if we want our prayers to be effective, we should attune our hearts to his. If God is indeed a loving Father and an intimate friend, then we should appeal to that which is closest to his heart, his mercy and compassion and love. And Abraham knew this in the first reading. When God had threatened to destroy the cities because of their sin, Abraham appealed to his love, his love for just a few just people in the city. God was willing to forgive thousands of sinners for the love of just a few. And we know from the Gospels that Jesus was this way as well. Frequently, he would see the crowds and be moved to pity for them.
The new catechism says that one who prays in intercession for others has a heart “especially attuned to God’s mercy.” (CCC 2365) And if we pray like Abraham, then our prayers will indeed be effective. St. Augustine said, “It is more meritorious to pray for someone else in their needs, than it is to pray for yourself.” And as Pope John Paul has said, this type of prayer is especially needed today, for there is a lot of injustice in today’s world: war, genocide, exploitation, racism, poverty caused by injustice and neglect. Perhaps if more of us pleaded with God like Abraham for mercy and compassion, then we would truly see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
I’m sure we can all think of examples of answered prayer, but I thought I would share with you one from our trip to Jamaica to work with the children with handicaps. The Mustard Seed Community we worked at has always been hanging on by a thread it seems. They’ve had some of their homes firebombed, been evicted from other places, and frequently have trouble getting just the basic necessities, like food and water. Well, one time, they were drastically low on food and were beginning to really worry. But Fr. Gregory, the founder, has taught these children with handicaps how to pray. Indeed, they get up at 5am each morning to pray the rosary and meditate, almost like a monastery. And it is a beautiful thing to see a child pray. So that day, Fr. Gregory asked the children to pray for food. And it turns out, that later that evening, a truck full of food came by, on its way to the Swiss ambassador’s residence for a gala reception for many of the diplomats in Kingston. Well, the truck driver was lost and accidentally pulled into the Mustard Seed Compound. And before he could react, the orphans jumped onto the truck and began unloading it with joy. By the time the truck driver figured out what was happening, the kids had taken 2/3rds of the food and were passing it around.
Well, as you can imagine, the Swiss Ambassador’s party was ruined, and Mustard Seed got an irate call from them the next morning, demanding restitution. Fr. Gregory simply said, by all means, we will do what we can, just come on by and we’ll work something out. Well, the ambassador’s wife came by, and it didn’t take her but 2 minutes with the children to see what had really happened. So instead of demanding restitution, she offered a 3 months supply of food, free, from the finest grocery in Kingston (kind of like our Publix).
So, you see, God does answer prayer, if we simply trust him, appeal to his mercy, and realize that he is a loving Father who knows our every need, for we are indeed, his beloved children.
