29th Sunday, October 17, 2010 – Persistence and perseverance in prayer!
There were these two boys who lived with their Grandma. They were about to go to bed but before they slept they prayed. The older son started to pray. He prayed about the day he had and about everything he had done. The younger son then started to pray, he prayed much louder than his elder brother, he prayed for bikes and toys, and when he finished the older brother asked him "Why are you praying so loud? God is not deaf" and the younger son responded and said " Yea, but Grandma is deaf."
A priest gets into a taxi cab and the driver turns out to be a terror on the road. He swerves between traffic, runs red lights and speeds down narrow streets.
The inevitable accident happens and both the priest and the taxi cab driver are killed. When they arrive at Heaven, Saint Peter gives the taxicab driver silken robes, big white wings and a golden harp. Saint Peter give the priest polyester robes, two hand held fans and a kazoo. The priest notices the difference and asks Saint Peter why there was such poor equipment for him after he had been a priest for 50 years.
Saint Peter replies; "We are using a new results based system. When you gave a sermon, everyone fell asleep. When the taxi driver was on the road, everyone prayed with a passion." I hope that I will not put you into sleep during my sermon but I am going to teach you about perseverance and persistence in prayer.
When I was in India the first five years of my ministry there involved working with the healing ministry. I remember a young man who had failed kidneys and he was brought to me so that I could lay my hands on him. With all the faith in my heart I prayed for “total healing” for this man. I got news that week that this young man had died. In one sense, God had heard my prayer. God gave this man total healing, because, in the Christian context, death is total healing. Since then, I have been very careful of what I pray for. I certainly have not prayed for total healing for anyone ever again. But I do the visiting of the hospitals and nursing homes. I have prayed for the people. Most of all, my hospital ministry took my spiritual life to a different plain. Believe me; I have a different perspective when I celebrate the Eucharist. I have never felt closer to God.
For me, this closeness that I feel toward God… is what I call prayer.
The theme of the readings today is prayer. They teach us about persistence and perseverance in prayer.
Let us identify the common strands between the first reading and the Gospel reading. Each of the readings shows us the connection between three things: God, the human being and the situation confronting the human being. Thus, in the first reading there is God, there is Moses and there is the battle against Amalek. In the Gospel reading, there is the judge who cared about nothing and nobody, there is the widow, and there is situation where the widow faced an adversary. In each of these situations, the human person is looking for help from a more powerful person for facing the enemy. What are the readings really saying to us today?
I think the scriptures offer three points for reflection.
First of all, prayer is indispensable in facing the battles of life. Both Joshua and the widow faced an external enemy. They do meet the challenge offered by these adversaries, but they do so in prayer. The readings suggest that because they did so and did it with persistence, they were successful. Jesus himself prayed when in challenging situations; before he chose his apostles, before his suffering and death. We are no exceptions today. It is challenging to bring up good kids; it is challenging to keep a marriage meaningful; to love without reservation; to be a forgiving person; to be just and honest and truthful; to be an honest follower of Christ. But if we desire to face any of these things, we need prayer. Like Moses, who kept his hands up in prayer, who kept his eyes focused on Jesus; like the woman who kept her petition with the judge alive, we need the power of prayer. Will that make a difference?
Second, prayer is not only about changing the situation. Prayer changes us. I find the first reading a little comical. The Israelites had the better of the battle against Amalek, as long as Moses had his hands lifted up. As soon as he began to lower it, they began to lose. When Moses’ hand went down the Israelites began losing the battle. When the widow persisted in her petitions, she was heard. The question we ask is; what changed? Moses and the widow wanted the situation to change in their favor. But we realize that it was Moses and woman who changed first. Moses had to learn to keep his eyes focused on God. The woman learned perseverance and persistence. The only unchanging factor is God. Even in my own life, I know how many times I have wanted things to change without allowing for change in my life. Prayer does not always change things, but it certainly does change us. So for example, we cannot remain in serious sin and expect change. We cannot continue to hold grudges in our hearts and expect change. We cannot be lazy and casual about our relationship with God and expect change. Prayer changes us before it can change the situation. And that is the key to changing the situation or the challenge we face.
Third, the judge in the Gospel reading “neither feared God nor respected any human being.” The surprise element in the reading today is not that that Moses won the battle or the woman over her adversary. The surprise element lies in contrast that we can draw between the judge and God. God is not like the judge. Unlike the judge, God cares for his people. In fact, he is eager to give us what is good for us. There may be a difference in what we consider good for us and what God considers good for us. But then we know that from experience. There is a difference between what parents consider good for their children and what children consider good for themselves. How do you define a good parent? Is a good parent the one who gives his or her child whatever the child asks for? That will spoil the child. Is a good parent the one who removes even the smallest problem that the child faces? That will make the child incapable of being strong and self-reliant. Is a good parent the one who does the child’s homework? That would make the child dumb. Is a good parent one who never disciplines or corrects the child? That would make the child a criminal. A good parent is one who as the child grows up, gives the child what the parent knows from experience, from the larger picture, is good for the child. A good parent is one who makes the child develop a good character so that the child may make wise choices. The child does not understand that as much as we do not understand why my only child should have cancer, or why my child is handicapped, or why my spouse is unfaithful, or why God does not just win a million dollar lottery for me.
The point is this: Even without asking, God has already fulfilled the deepest longing of human hearts. What we want most is that we have eternal life; that we are forever in peace with no pain and sorrow; where we shall not want anymore; this longing for eternity, for salvation is already fulfilled. God gave us his only Son to fulfill that need. So when we persist in prayer, we are approaching a God who is all love, who cares about us and in his eagerness to see us happy, has fulfilled our deepest need.
I end with the words of St. Paul: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, and who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.”
