July
24, 2016
17th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Genesis
18:20-32; Psalm 138; Col 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13
I remember this
story about a man who dreamt that he died in a tragic car accident. When he
woke up the next morning, he immediately went to the bank and withdrew all his
money. Why? Because the slogan of the bank says: “We make your dreams come
true!”
Our readings for
today tell us that prayers can make our dreams come true. Jesus says in the
gospel: “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door
will be opened to you.” To whom are we talking to when we pray? What kind of
attitude must one have in praying?
Let
us reflect on this in three points:
WHEN
WE PRAY, WE TALK TO A GENEROUS GOD. This is what we see in Abraham’s
prayer in the first reading. He was negotiating with God to give up His plan to
destroy the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. One may say that Abraham had a
vested interest in protecting Sodom because his nephew, Lot who was a good man,
was living there. This was the basis of his negotiation – to spare the
destruction of the city because there are innocent and good people residing
there. What was the response of God to the persistent request of Abraham? God
said: no matter how few these innocent and good people are, I will spare the
city from destruction. This tells us
that we have a generous God.
My dear friends
let us remember that when we pray, we talk to a generous God. Paul in second reading also reminds us that
this generosity of God should inspire us to trust in Him every time we pray. So
when we pray, let us remember that we are not talking to a mean God. We are rather
talking to a generous and kind God who listens to us. We must not be afraid to
come to him and present our concerns in prayer. But does this generosity mean
that God answers our prayers?
THE
ANSWER OF GOD TO OUR PRAYERS WILL ALWAYS BE FOR OUR OWN GOOD. There was this story of a mother and
her child were strolling along the
mall one Sunday afternoon. Passing by a makeup store, the child requested
the mother, “Mom, can you buy me some lipstick? Some of my friends are
already wearing lipstick.” The mother said quickly, “No.” After a few meters,
they passed by a shoe store. “Can you buy me those high heel shoes, some of my
friends use it during certain occasions.” The mother said again, “No, I will not.”
Then they passed by a dress store. The child told the mother, “Mom I want to try one of
those dresses, can I?” The mother finally said, “Junior, will you stop it or
else your father will get
mad at you!”
The point of
this story is that sometimes in prayer, we are like the child who asks God for
things that are not for our own good. God is like a parent who knows what is
good for us. When we ask for things that may not be good for us, out of God’s
love, God will not give it for us because it is not for our own good. But even then,
God will always give us something better than what we have asked for. What does
this tell us about prayer?
PRAYER
IS BENDING OUR HEARTS TO THE WILL OF GOD. It is a wrong
notion to think that prayer seeks to change the mind of God. Prayer is about inclining
our hearts and minds to the will of God. This is actually the content of the
Lord’s prayer in the gospel today. Notice that the first part of the Lord’s prayer
says: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” No amount prayer can change the mind of God.
The essence of prayer is not about conforming the mind of God to ours whether
He likes it or not. No. Prayer is more of the changing of our hearts and minds
to the will of God. We may never know how God
will answer our prayers, but we can be sure and certain that God’s will is that
which is best for us.
