Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am certain you have heard about the child who when she first prayed the “Our Father,” said “Our Father who art in heaven, how do you know my name?” Or, the child who prayed, “Our Father in heaven, ‘Howard’ be thy name!” Or, the child that said, “Lead us not into ‘Penn Station.’” Or even the woman who cried out, “Deliver us from e-mail.”
But humor aside, on Thursday I was with two year old Reagan who has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her brain. Her parents, her family, friends and I gathered around her to pray for her healing. Like Abraham in today’s first reading, we put everything we had into our prayer. There was not one tearless prayer that we offered.
In good times and in bad, prayer remains the most significant element of our life. It is so important that Luke includes a passage his gospel where the disciples came to Jesus asking him, “Lord, teach us how to pray, like John taught his disciples.” More than just being a request, this plea from the disciples captures the essence of Christian life. It tells us that prayer is the most basic element of Christian life. Especially, if we do not consider ourselves to be nominal Christians but disciples, then prayer is our lifeline.
Very often the prayer of Jesus is limited to the words that he gave us. But the prayer is deeper than the words. There is an entire world view, an extensive theology, an entire spiritual journey contained in these words. A disciple must go beyond the world and adopt the life-style proposed in these words. Today, in the very limited time I have, I want to explore three aspects in this prayer.
1. Prayer is Relationship. Jesus taught us to call God, “Abba.” Even as revolutionary as it was to call God, “Father,” in Jesus’ time, it is the relationship behind that word that is even more significant. By teaching us to call “Abba,” Jesus was creating a natural bond between God and us. In other words, the first thing Jesus was teaching his disciples was to enter into a relationship with God – that of a parent and a child. At the center of any words we utter to God is a relationship just like at the center of every marriage or friendship or a parent and a child is a relationship. Yes, prayer has other elements included within it – intercession, seeking pardon, adoration, formal prayers and contemplation. But without a relationship all these elements is like a couple who continue to keep a marriage going because of their children or because of finances. Like any other relationship, the quality of our prayer depends on the importance we place on the relationship with God and with Christ. The amount of time we dedicate to prayer, the fervor with which we pray, and the regularity with which we pray all depends on the strength of our relationship with God. Today, take a good look at both what your prayer looks like and the strength of your relationship with God.
2. Heaven on Earth. One of the first petitions in Jesus’ prayer is, “They kingdom come, on earth, as it is in heaven.” I could be mistaken but I think most of us think that prayer and our relationship with God is important because at the end of our lives it will get us into heaven. The prayer of Jesus offers a slightly different perspective. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.” In other words, as far as God is concerned, what happens on earth is as important as what happens in heaven. If heaven is the Kingdom of God, then God is asking us to pray that earth become like heaven. This means that a Christian’s life project should not just be to get to heaven but to make earth like heaven. I think that is what Jesus did when he came.
What if I said that we will make it into heaven only to the extent that we try to make heaven here on earth? May be the person who will make it into heaven is not the person who has prayed the most but the person who has tried his or her best to make sure that “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” In fact, true prayer is make the attempt to bring God’s Kingdom on earth.
3. Bread for the world. I said in my homily last week that genuine prayer affects our relationship with God and one another. The prayer of Jesus is a great example of this. In his prayer, not only did Jesus teach us to Hallow God’s name but also to be concerned about our neighbors. He invites us to do this by praying for bread and calling us to forgive one another as God forgives us. In a world where millions die of hunger and violence, I think we understand how important bread is for us and how important forgiveness is. No wonder, then, that of all the ways that Jesus could be present to us he chooses to be bread for the world in the Eucharist. The Eucharist also reconciles the community to Christ and each other. This makes the Eucharist the greatest prayer of Christians. Here, on this altar, Christ becomes our food and our reconciliation. And then he sends us forth to become bread & peace for our world. Genuine prayer covers both these dimension – love of God and love of neighbor. It is right, then, that at every Eucharist we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us. The Eucharist is the “Our Father” lived out in a community.
As we bring bread and wine to the altar, we know that this Eucharist will be food and reconciliation for us. This Eucharist will be a little heaven on earth. Let us receive the bread from heaven and then go out and become bread for the world. May we be the peace of God for the world
Fr. Satish Joseph