Praise

Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Jer 29:11, 12, 14 The Lord said: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. You will call upon me, and I will answer you, and I will lead back your captives from every place.

Collect Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God, the constant gladness of being devoted to you, for it is full and lasting happiness to serve with constancy the author of all that is good. 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: Apocalypse 1:1-4. 2:1-5; Psalm 1; Luke 18:35-43

As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He called out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, What do you want me to do for you? Lord, I want to see, he replied. Jesus said to him, Receive your sight; your faith has healed you. Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. (Luke 18:35-43)

Praise Were I ever to have the time, there are some things I would like to investigate about the deities of the various religions of man, and in particular about their high gods. I have read students of Hinduism assert that the deities of Hinduism are manifestations of the divine which is ultimately one. It is said that proper and classical Buddhism does not allow for a personal Creator, let alone a loving one. Confucianism is said to be a-religious, but of course moral. It has always seemed to me that the numerous religious myths of classic Greek and Roman religion were imaginative projections of variants of human life. Now, in all these religions it is plain that there is prayer and worship, especially prayer of petition, and various gods were specialists in certain kinds of petition. The god of war dealt with petitions of war. The god of the sea dealt with issues of safety at sea. But now, I would ask a specialist in comparative religion to what extent has the prayer of praise featured in the religious life of mankind? I suspect that, just as the gods of mankind’s religions do not appear to be beings of unstinting and selfless love, a love that is prepared to suffer for man, so man’s religious response to them does not seem to be notably one of praise. Doubtless there is praise in the myths and rituals of history’s religions, but I suspect that it is not notable in extent, and I wonder if, wherever present, it is found to be ordered towards gaining a benefit from the god being praised. That is my suspicion, and it is an hypothesis that I would like to see tested with research. Be that as it may, when we turn to the Christian religion, praise of the one true God abounds. There is a great deal of petition — as must be the case for weak and vulnerable man — but there is also a great deal of praise, thanks and praise. The Psalms, to give but one obvious instance, are full of praise. Man instinctively turns to God in his need, but in the case of Revealed Religion, man in turning to God discovers that God has already acted in his life. God has taken the initiative, and so man asks the more — and he praises God the more.

In our Gospel today (Luke 18:35-43), the blind man is sitting by the roadside begging, when amid the sudden concourse of people surrounding him, he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He knows of Jesus of Nazareth, the great son of David — he is good, merciful and powerful. God is acting in him. The blind man is very aware that the God of Israel who has been so good to his chosen people in the past, is being good to the children of Israel in the person of Jesus now. The blind man’s whole being instantly responds to the news of Jesus. He unhesitatingly and vociferously appeals to Jesus, and his shouts prevail across the heads of the crowd. He is a child of Revealed Religion, and he knows that God is a God of love and compassion, a God who has shown this in the past, and who is showing it now in the person of the great prophet near to him in the midst of the crowd. His powerful petition, repeated with insistence, is based on the proven love of God, a love gratuitously demonstrated time and again in the history of his people. Jesus instantly stops, for his heart is a heart of compassion — and we can imagine the crowd around him slowly stopping in tandem with him. The voice of the blind man is heard again, and Jesus asks that he be brought to him. They meet, and then there is uttered the beautiful question of Jesus Christ that manifests the character of God so often revealed in the history of the chosen people: “What do you want me to do for you?” Now, I would revert to my previous question and ask to what extent has this question been asked by the gods of man’s religions. Characteristically, do they take the initiative in asking this question, or are they — otherwise silent — importuned by the needs of man to respond? The God of Revelation, manifested in the face of Jesus Christ, takes the initiative in meeting wounded man, and asks how he can help him. The prayer of petition in Revealed Religion is encouraged by the loving initiative of God. But then all of this leads man to praise. So it is with the blind man — he follows Jesus glorifying God, and the crowds praise.

There are two great things we ought be doing in our prayer: asking God for what we need, and praising him for his merciful goodness. We ought ask, as did the blind man, with confidence in the goodness of God who has shown time and again that he wishes to help us. What do you want me to do for you? is the characteristic question coming from the lips of Jesus Christ. Our religion and our prayer is based on the revelation of the love of God for us. It ought lead to petition and to praise — praise that glorifies him for his goodness, and that leads others to praise him as well. Let us learn from Christ’s wonderful question, and let us learn from the blind man who responds.

(E.J.Tyler)

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