July 24^th,  '16 Sunday Homily –Fr.Francis Chirackal CMI

Gn 18:20-32; Col 2:12-14; Lk 11:1-13

For Readings:

http://www.usccb.org/nab/072416.shtml

For anyone who practices faith in God, prayer is not something strange. At the same time there may be many questions and experience in most of the people regarding prayers. Norman Vincent Peale tells a story of a man whose prayer changed the sinking hotel to a flourishing one. Jim Johnson was hired to head a hotel when it was in a situation of now-or-never. With a genuine desire to save it he decided to try something different than his predecessors did. Each night he drove to the top of a hill overlooking the hotel and the city. Looking at the hotel and city, he prayed for 20 minutes every day for the hotel guests, employees and their families, people who did business with the hotel and finally for the whole city and its people. He continued this for weeks and months without failure and said the same prayer. The situation at the hotel started to improve. A new confidence radiated from its employees, a new warmth welcomed and greeted each of the new guests and a new spirit permeated its operation. Gradually the business started flourishing like the rising Sun. The author credits the hotel’s rebirth to the nightly prayer of Jim Johnson. After teaching the disciples to pray he tells them to be persistent in prayer.

The first reading from the book of Genesis speaks of the power of intercessory prayers in our lives. Abraham, through his pleading brings down the required minimum number of righteous ones to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah from fifty to ten. St.Paul in the second reading speaks of the Incarnation through which, the way God forgave our sins and made salvation possible for us.

In the gospel Jesus teaches the Apostles to pray and tells them to be persistent in prayer. The prayer Jesus taught is the shortest perfect prayer which includes all elements of prayer including the prerequisite for praying, i.e. ones own responsibilities before praying to God. Our prayer should come from our father-child relationship with God at the level of heart. Our prayer demands a certain degree of obedience to God. Unless we accept God’s supreme power and right over us, our prayer becomes mere utterances of words without touching our life. When we accept His supreme power, we will obey His commandments of love and forgiveness. So the prayer obliges us to love, and forgive those who offend us before we start praying for our own intentions.

After teaching how to pray, Jesus tells his disciples to be perseverant in prayer. It is one of the most important elements in our spiritual growth. As Jesus says, no prayer will be left unanswered. He said, “Ask and you will receive”. He didn’t say, “You might receive”. What he is telling is that all of our prayers will be answered with the best we need, though there are times we may not get exactly what we prayed for, as God knows better than we know of our real needs, present and future. It is a known fact that many times our felt need may not be our real need. I have seen in my own life that many times I prayed for something, but I got something different. Each time gradually I realized that what I had got was the best for my life and my ministry, though it was hard for me to understand it at the given moments. I have heard several people telling of similar experience in their lives. It may be true with many of you too.

From the human point of view, insisting for something or repeatedly asking for something may become irritating. It may be true when it comes with the case of a human relationship. Even in political and social scenarios many times we may see such efforts for a better result. When it comes to the matter of faith and prayer, not only it won’t be a matter of irritation, but becomes a matter of our trust and confidence in God, which will be pleasing to Him.

Some people may question the relevance of prayer. Once a Catholic school teacher asked one of her young students whether he says a prayer before eating. The student replied immediately saying, “No teacher, I don’t have to. My mom is a good cook”. He hadn’t learned yet that prayer is more than asking only for things. The prayer Jesus taught is a perfect answer to the questions regarding the nature and purpose of a prayer in our lives going through its contents and disposition. It contains the essence of all prayers. Through prayer we knock at the door of heaven and seek the will of the heavenly Father in our lives and ask for His grace and blessings for our everyday life and eternal salvation. As Holy Father Pope Francis said, through prayerful action we keep our hope, become surprised by God, and will be able to live in joy. Let us be prayerful, let us be hopeful and let us be joyful in our everyday lives.