Rev Fr. A. Christopher, HGN

17th Sunday of the Year – C
Gen 18:20-32 Col 2:12-14 Lk 11:1-13

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Prayer is the support, sustain and protect of religion. Only the self-sufficient do not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, and the self-righteous cannot pray. Otherwise, all of us pray. We pray because we can’t help praying. We must pray in adversity as well as in prosperity, for our piety must be like a good well, which must not freeze in winter and must not run dry in summer. A lot of kneeling keeps us in good standing with God; for one thing, you can’t stumble if you are on your knees. However, our problem is not prayer but persistent prayer.

A Jewish tale is told of a man who argued with God. It happened one day in the synagogue when Ben Ezra was pouring out his prayer so vigorously that the rabbi grew worried and said to him: “You are a headstrong man, Ben Ezra. Perhaps you argue instead of pray.”

Ben Ezra replied: “Listen, rabbi, and I will tell you what I have been saying. To the master of the universe I say this:

These are my sins and I confess them. I argue with my wife, but you know my wife! I lost patience with my children, but what parent doesn’t? I cheated a little in the shop, but just a little. How small my sins are, Master of the universe, but they are mine and I confess them. And now, consider your sins. Sometimes you dry up the skies and our crops wither in the fields. Other times they burn up because you send too much sun. You let the rains come before a poor man has his roof repaired. You do not stop war and the young men die. You take away the light from the eyes of a child and he is blind. You take away our loved ones and we are left alone until we too must die. These are your sins, Master of the universe, and they are great. But I will make you a proposal. You forgive me my little sins and I will forgive you your great ones.

“That was my proposal, rabbi, and I ask you what was wrong?”

The rabbi did not answer for a long time. And then he looked at Ben Ezra and said, “No, it was not wrong. But why, oh why, Ben Ezra, did you drive so small a bargain? For sins like these you could have asked him to send the Messiah. You could have asked him to redeem the world!”

In today’s first reading it is Abraham, not Ben Ezra, who is busily bargaining with God over the number of just people needed to save two cities from destruction. There is a comical picture of Abraham as a shrewd and persistent bargain-hunter at a Dutch auction – where the price decreases – fifty, forty-five, thirty, twenty, and ten. Abraham is the street-wise character who presses God for the best deal possible. In his persistence, Abraham was like the postage stamp sticking to one thing till it gets there. Jesus too teaches a parable about persistence in prayer and then adds, “Ask, Seek, Knock” (Lk 11:9). Hence we must keep on trying with our petitions without getting discouraged. It is only from the valley that the mountain seems high.

In the first reading Abraham wonders whether God will get angry at his final markdown of the original price, God agrees not to destroy the cities for the sake of ten good people. An equally generous picture of God emerges from St. Paul’s letter that we heard: “God has forgiven us all our sins and cancelled every record of debt we had to pay.” However, that image of a generous and forgiving God is not one that people readily believe in. That is why, when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, he insists that they relate to God as Father, Abba, and approach him in the confidence of children who know they are loved. Jesus insists that we relate to God with deep faith him that he would surely answer our prayers.

For four years it had not rained. So the priest gathered all the villagers go on a pilgrimage to the shrine on top of the mountain to pray for the rains. In the middle of the group, the parish priest noticed a youth, all wrapped up in warm clothes and a rain coat. “Are you crazy, my dear young man?” he asked. “It hasn’t rained for the past four years. It is so hot and dry. Dressed like that, you will die of heat.” “I have got a cold, Father. If we are going to pray for rain, when we climb down the downpour is going to be heavy; so it is better to be prepared.” At that moment thunder and lightning tore the sky and the first drops of a torrential rain began to fall.

That reminds me of another story. Pilot to passengers in mid-flight: “I regret to inform you we are in terrible trouble. Only God can save us now.” One of the passengers turned to his neighbour, a priest, to ask what the pilot had said and got this reply: “He says there’s no hope!”
Faith makes everything possible. Prayer without FAITH is nothing but meaningless words.

Our first point was pray persistently; the second point was pray with deep faith. Now the third point is pray without any selfish motives. Not all our prayers are answered all the times. And there could be many reasons for that. Sometimes when we pray for something our intentions are not always good. Sometimes our intentions in prayer are selfish and need to be purified.
Mary, Catherine, Margaret were stuck on an island for many, many years until one day God appeared to them after their continuous prayers. He said that he could only give three wishes so since there were three girls, each would get one wish.
Margaret went first. ''I hate it here. It is too hot and boring. I want to go home!'' God said, "Okay,''. And off she went. Then Catherine asked. ''I miss my family, my friends and relatives. I want to go home, too!!'' And off she went. Mary started crying and said, ''I wish my friends were here!''
In ‘Our Father’ Jesus taught us to pray in a climate of unselfishness and love. Have a close look at to our Lord’s Prayer; Jesus taught us in plural form. Words like ‘we, us and our’ are only used. This sends a clear message that our prayer should not have any selfish motives. Remove all the selfish elements from your prayers.
Many people say: “I have done the nine Fridays, the five Tuesdays, and the three Saturdays; also the novena to St. Jude. I have joined the charismatic movement; I’m involved in shared prayer, dialogue homilies, and sunset meditations. And still I come up with zero!” Jesus’ answer is that it is still worthwhile to keep on asking, to keep on seeking, to keep on knocking, because God is more than silence: he is also Word, and he will reply.
Remember in the end Ben Ezra received his answer from God; For God did send the Messiah in Jesus, and he did hear the cry of the messiah’s appeal to forgive us all our sins. And that is our most precious bargain.
Finally I would like to conclude by sharing my own experience. God will surely and definitely answer all our prayers. Every drop of our tears will be answered. Praying together in the family is very important. Parents should teach the children by example to pray everyday. I always say, the Holy Mass is the greatest form of Prayer. Anything and everything that I prayed during the Holy Mass, I have received from God. You can take it as a kind of witness. Yes, my dear friends, make this Eucharistic celebration as the centre of your life and pray unceasingly; pray with deep faith and pray without any selfish motives.
AMEN.

Fr. A. Christopher, HGN