Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 68 (67):6‑7, 36 God is in his holy place, God who unites those who dwell in his house; he himself gives might and strength to his people.

Collect O God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138:1-3, 6-8; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.” And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:1-13)

Petition The study of the religions of man suggests to us certain things which prompt religion in individuals and in communities. There is the experience of guilt and the testimony of the conscience. There is the experience of change everywhere and of the fragility of all things. Very importantly, there is the sense of helplessness in the face of need and evil. This prompts man to turn to the higher, heavenly powers for assistance in gaining what he knows he desperately needs. Whatever be the reason for one’s sense of helplessness, it prompts a person to appeal to the great One above. But we also know that despite this, many give up on praying for what they need. They pray, and as far as they are concerned, all remains silent. Nothing seems to happen as a result of their prayer. So many give up asking for what they began to pray for, while perhaps continuing to be religious, and continuing to turn to God at various times for what they need. Some even give up on prayer as being useless. Some give up even on God. Some abandon religion. There seems to be no answer to their problem of evil. Prayer does not seem to work. To this we have our Lord’s reply in today’s Gospel (Luke 11:1-13), when he was asked by his disciples to teach them to pray. Notice this: the Lord’s Prayer that he taught them was a prayer of petition, made up of various petitions. Our Lord wants us to ask our heavenly Father for all we need. It is very pleasing to God to see us asking him for what we or others need. He wants to hear our petitions. And our Lord gives an extended commentary on just this fact, that God wants to hear our prayer and will hear it. Our Lord makes it very, very clear. “So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”

We must, then, approach prayer with confidence and persistence, for this is the bearing of our Lord’s parable of the person persistently knocking on the door. We can expect God to hear our prayer — leaving it up to him, of course, for being God he clearly knows how our prayer is best answered. I tend to think that generally we approach prayer for our needs, or the needs of others, without very much confidence in God. Why? Because we are people of little faith and go simply by appearances. We do not accept our Lord’s word in faith. We ought trust him. But then too, our Lord’s instruction on how to pray tells us what are our true needs. Do we really know what to pray for, and what is in our best interests? Often we do, and if we can place ourselves in the presence of God and, with a clear conscience, feel confident that what we intend praying for will be pleasing to God, we ought pray for it. But so very often we do not know what is the best thing to pray for. In the Lord’s Prayer, though, we are told very clearly. We are told to pray that our heavenly Father’s name will be held holy, that his kingdom will come, that he will give us our daily bread and whatever else we need, that he will forgive us our sins as we forgive those who are in debt to us, and that he will keep us from falling into sin. Especially are we to pray for the Holy Spirit, for "how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" All this means that we ought ask God to enable us to live in a way that will most honour and glorify his name. Therein lie our best interests. If by our lives God is glorified, if by the way we live, no matter what be our situation in life, his kingdom comes and his name is hallowed, our own best and truest interests will be served. God's glory ought therefore be the object of our prayer.

The glory of God is our best interest. Apart from the Lord’s Prayer, let us every day pray that simple prayer petitioning that God be honoured and glorified. Let us say it morning and night and during the day: “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.” Say this with Mary each day, in and through the Hail Mary.

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection: (Luke 11:1-13)

Answer to Prayer Today we are presented with a wonderful Gospel passage: ‘So I say to you,’ our Lord assures us, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him’ (Luke 11:1-13). What our Lord says is encouraging. Consider how Abraham prayed, and what he prayed for, as told to us in the First Reading (Genesis 18:20-32). The sinfulness of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was so great that God was about to destroy them. But Abraham prayed persistently to God, bargained with him, and with profound reverence asked him to spare the two cities even for the few just ones there. And God agreed — the problem was that Abraham could not find the few numbers he agreed to. So then, God wants us to ask for things. Ask and you shall receive, our Lord promises. These are exciting words to hear, and they are addressed to all of us. But do we really believe them? A person might think, I have asked at various times and I have not received. This puzzle of mind could become a temptation to refuse belief in the word of Jesus Christ, without clearly realizing it. As a result one might fail to ask God for what we need in life, including very essential and important things which our Lord wants us to ask for. Because of this we may not receive them. An infant asks for a razor blade and does not get it. Is it not obvious that it would scarcely be wise and loving of God to give us whatever we ask for, simply because we ask for it? God is first and foremost our Father, so like a father he listens to us with wisdom and love. Again, someone hurts us by a wounding comment in public before others. In response to that injury we ask God to inflict a serious injury on that person in return. Must we be surprised if God does not answer that prayer? Apart from the question of God acting in character, in any case is that what we really need? Is the granting of that specific request the best answer to our prayer?

Let us take an instance of a request to our Lord presented by a few of his closest and most loyal friends. The mother of James and John came to our Lord with her sons. Our Lord asked, what is it that you want me to do for you? She said, put my two sons at your right and at your left — in the first positions, that is — in your kingdom. Our Lord replied that they did not know what they were asking. Can you drink the cup I must drink, he asked? Time and time again, we may not realize what we are asking for, and the cost it could involve. Our Lord says in another part of the Gospel, ‘What father among you would give his son a snake if he asks for a fish, or hand him a scorpion if he asks for an egg?’ God’s response to our requests is not to make things more difficult for us by disappointing us. He will answer it, if it is made in the right spirit recognizing that he is God and that we are his children. He will answer it, but in the way he knows best. The problem is that generally we do not know what is good for us. We do not always know what to pray for. Before asking God for anything, we ought put ourselves in his presence and ask him to help us to see what is best for us. We ought ask, what would God want me to ask for? Then, if we do indeed think what we want to ask for is likely to please God and be in accord with his plan, we ought pray for it. In fact, we should pray for numerous things in this spirit all our lives. If we ask God for more, he will give more. But we should pray in the way Jesus our Lord did when he was facing his Passion. He made his request that his cup be taken from him, but added, ‘not what I want but what you want.’ That is the perfect prayer of petition. It trusts in God our Father, it believes in God’s power, his wisdom, and his love, and it seeks guidance before even asking. In our Lord’s case, his heavenly Father did not take away the cup, but sent a great heavenly companion, an angel, to console and sustain our Lord in his Passion that was soon to begin.

Let us remember St Monica. Her son had abandoned the Catholic faith and was living in sin. Her prayers for her son’s conversion were persistent, ardent, long-lasting. As a result, he converted and became one of the greatest saints in the Church’s history, and one of the most influential thinkers and writers of all time. He is St Augustine of Hippo. Ask and you shall receive. Let us pray constantly for the things we need, such as, that we make daily progress in holiness; that we fulfill our responsibilities in a way that will be pleasing to God; that we raise our children well; that we shall spend ourselves in good work, doing it for God’s glory.

(E.J.Tyler)

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