Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Sometimes I wonder, why do we follow up our petitions with “Lord, hear our prayer?” Isn’t it kind of like asking for something, and following it up with, ‘are you listening God?’ Here on Earth it can feel like God is distant, far away, beyond hearing. Heaven seems a long way off when tornados and racists are tearing through town. Some may feel like they need to do something special to catch God’s attention. Maybe it’s a rosary, litany, novena, or another long prayer of ‘many words.’ Maybe it’s about doing extraordinary good works. Maybe we feel a need to be loud in our prayers and actions. In our unsaid feeling of God’s distance, we may inadvertently be questioning God’s goodness.
Today’s psalm is a remedy for this sort of thinking. Like all praise, it helps us remember that God is mighty, loving, good, and close-by. ‘God’s works are justice and truth.’ Our Lord is reliable. The Spirit’s presence is continuous. Unfortunately, our feelings of closeness to the Spirit are an unreliable gage of how close God actually is. God’s deeds are wondrous. The Psalmist doesn’t say they were wondrous. They are now. Jesus’s work continues today; we see it in the cleanup efforts after natural disasters and the wonderful preparation of love as a response to hate. We see it in the love of parents for their children, and the simplicity of children’s’ faith.
Perhaps most importantly, we see it when we ego-heavy sinners are able to forgive one another. Such forgiveness is super-natural. It is also one sure secret to know the Lord will hear your prayers. Jesus taught us in today’s Gospel that our prayer for forgiveness is answered when we forgive others. What is the prayer that flows out from the depths of your heart? Are you able to believe that God truly hears your prayer and knows what you need before you have asked? Let us consider, who do we need to forgive? It may be someone else, and it may be yourself. In prayerful communion with our God, may we find the strength and awareness to forgive, to trust that God hears, and to offer our simple, deep longing to the Lord.
-Chris Nieport