Ecclesiastes 35:12-14, 16-19; Psalms 33(34); 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18; Luke 18:9-14
Pride – the Sin of the Angels
Dear friends, today is the 30th Sunday of the Ordinary Time. We have four more Sundays left to close the liturgical year C. Today, our Lord teaches us that the right attitude when we pray is humility. This is because prayer is a one-to-one conversation with our creator. “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Mathew 6:7) It matters not what we say but how we say it. The way we express ourselves has a lot to do with what we get as an answer from those listening to us.
Prayer is communicating with God. Though many people pray every day and night, not everyone knows how to pray effectively. One day, the disciples of Jesus saw him praying, and they realized that they did not know how to do it. And when he had finished, they said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1). Do you think you know how to pray well?
Prayer is all about the attitude and the disposition we have before God. Sometimes we go with specific demands and clear-cut aspirations before God. We give God no freedom to even modify our petitions. Most of the time, we go to ask him about our needs and want nothing to do with what he wants for us. If this is how we communicate, I am not surprised if we do not get answers. Just like in the communication process, prayer is a two-way process. Just the way we want God to listen keenly to us when we pray, so must we listen keenly to him when he speaks to us. God can say ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or ‘Wait’. Sometimes his answer is not direct. However, most of us expect only a “Yes” from God every time we pray. Don’t we? If we do not get a direct yes, we lose hope or start looking elsewhere for answers
Many Christians understand prayer as a firefighting tool. Just as we do not call firefighters unless there is a fire, many only seek God’s intervention when their lives are on fire. Their faith in this case is not an “all seasons” affair; rather, it is for “emergency purposes”. Is your faith a full-time relationship with God or a seasonal outfit?
Today, the readings highlight the importance of “humility in prayer”. The first reading tells us that “the humble person’s prayer pierces the clouds” (Ecclesiasticus 35:7) and reaches God quickly. When we pray, we must not dictate to God what and how he should answer, but let him surprise us because he is the one who knows best what we need at any time. However, prayer is not just kneeling, standing, or lying to tell God what, when, and how we need it.
When we respond to God’s call and perform our duties well, like St. Paul, we are praying. Paul is at the end of his missionary journey, and he feels that he has done his best concerning his vocation to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. He is not asking God to remunerate him, but he is expecting to inherit the Kingdom of God, submitting to the will of God. I can testify that if we strive to serve God in humility and dedication, he will always be on our side, despite our weaknesses.
In many places of worship today, prayer has become like a competition about who shouts the best, who formulates the best prayer, who can move the highest emotions in the crowds, and who can best manipulate the spirit and other theatrics of the same nature. Everyone is trying to outdo the other in worship. Do not be deceived by the theatrics of the modern-day self-proclaimed prophet. It is not how loud or how emotional we get in prayer that moves God to grant us our needs, but humility and proper disposition. How do you pray?
Though we must not be cold in our prayer, the warmth is not theatrics but our actions of faith. If a farmer prays for a good harvest, we must work hard on our farms. If a student prays for good grades, he or she must study hard. Prayer is the way of life that reflects our beliefs and values. It is not an emergency weapon, stuck on our waist while outside the worship places, we live like unbelievers.
Dear friends, as we reflect on today’s readings, let us examine the way we pray and the way we live our lives and see if this could be the reason we get nothing out of our long and emotionally charged prayers.
Have a blessed Sunday
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 