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On the way out of church on Sundays or when people run into me, for
example, at the food store during the week, they will ask me to say
a prayer for them or a member of their family. Oftentimes,
those requests include individuals who are or will be undergoing a
serious medical procedure, are dealing with chronic illness, are
facing troubles and difficulties in their marriages, are having problems raising
their children, or who have made some extremely bad choices in life.
In short, the are experiencing the sin and death in their lives.
Over
the decades, all but one of those requests have been made by adults.
I can recall only one teenager and one young adult―who
at the time was being deployed to Iraq―ask
that I say a prayer.
I don’t
know what that means, but it’s quite likely related to our culture’s
insistence that its members be “rugged individuals” who are capable
to taking care of themselves. While teenagers and young people
certainly do struggle with many issues today, perhaps our young
people believe it would portray weakness to ask someone to pray for
them as they contend with life’s oftentimes mysterious and difficult
struggles. Come to think of it, most adults likely do not ask
anyone to pray for them.
“Sure, I’ll say a prayer,” I say when I’m
asked to pray for someone. But, then, I ask: “What’s the
name?”
Sometimes, those people who ask me to say a prayer for their
particular intention give me a quizzical, odd look. Perhaps they think I am
being nosey or, worse yet, that I’ll
somehow contact them and tell them that I’m praying for them. But, at my advanced age, I have to write down those
requests for prayers onto a page in my pocket-sized, spiral-bound
notebook that I keep in my shirt pocket, so those individuals will
be remembered in prayer. Otherwise, it’s
quite
likely they won’t be remembered
at all.
As I was preparing today’s homily, I went back and read those
requests that I’ve
penned into my most recent notebook. Some requests have been
crossed out, meaning the intention has been answered or is no longer
applicable for one reason or another. To my delight, some of my
prayers—for what seemed at the time to be “impossible cases”—have
been answered. Others have not been answered, with the sad result
being a death, a divorce, or no change at all—the status quo—which
itself isn’t a good thing, as many of those individuals continue to
this very day to suffer the effects of sin and death in their lives.
I have no idea what my batting average for intercessory prayer is. But,
I think it’s
about .500 and, if I played major league baseball, I’d be a
multi-millionaire. So, God is good and I’m
not a multi-millionaire.
In today’s gospel, Jesus prayed, saying: “Father….I pray…for the
ones you have given me….”
Now there’s something I haven’t thought much about over the years.
Jesus is praying for all of us whom God has entrusted to Jesus. I
don’t know about you, but for me, to know that I have the Big Guy
himself—Christ our Savior—living in glory with his Father and
praying for me, now that gives me great confidence! In my braver
moments, I ask: “What do I have to fear?”
To know that Jesus prays for us—each of whom God has entrusted to
Jesus—should give all of us great confidence.
As with most things in life, however, there’s a hitch.
God sent His only begotten Son to redeem us from sin and death as
well as to teach us the way of holiness. When I pray and focus
solely upon myself and what I want (or ask others to pray to God for
what I want) and, then, feel confident that Jesus is praying
for what I want, I neglect what Jesus was doing in today’s
gospel
and trying to teach me to do. That is, Jesus is praying for me to
his Father in heaven not so that I’ll get what I want, but so
that I will learn to imitate Jesus by praying for those God has
entrusted to me! Jesus is praying for all of those God has
entrusted to him—that’s you and me—so that all of us will not need
to pray for ourselves but instead will pray for
all of those who God has entrusted to us!
So, it seems to me, my pocket-sized, spiral-bound notebook and all
of those individuals who are to be remembered in prayer is a good
thing. Since Jesus is praying for me, I am free to focus not
upon myself but upon others and their needs, in particular, by praying for all for
all of those who God has entrusted to me…quite frankly, most of whom
I have never met or know almost nothing about. Imagine if all
of us were praying for all of those who God has entrusted to us, even
those we’ve
never met or know almost nothing about...sort of like one of those
Internet email chain letters.
What about you? What are you praying for? Are you praying for
yourself and what you want? Or, do you pray for those God has
entrusted to you, most of whom you know very well? For example:
·
Do you pray for your spouse?
·
Do you pray for your children and grandchildren?
·
Do you pray for nieces/nephews?
friends/neighbors/co-workers?
·
Do you pray for your in-laws? nieces/nephews?
friends/neighbors/co-workers?
·
How about your in-laws?
To our young people:
·
Do you pray for your parents?
·
How about
your brothers and sisters?
·
Do you pray for your grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and
other relatives?
·
Do you pray for your friends and their family members?
·
Do you pray for your teachers?
It’s
much easier to complain about people than it is to pray for them.
But, whether we’re old or young, rich or poor, on top of things or
bearing the weight of the world on our shoulders,
God has placed all of these people into our lives—God has entrusted
them to us—so that, like Jesus, we might pray for them.
Do you
see how easy it is for Jesus’
disciples―that’s
you and me―to
turn something as good as prayer is into something that it’s
not? Focusing upon ourselves and everything we want for
ourselves―good
as these things may be―we make prayer “all about me.” Have you
ever thought God might be quite bored listening to us prattle on and
on about ourselves? After all, God already has Jesus
interceding on our behalf. God already knows what we need!
Did you ever consider that our prayers, focusing selfishly upon
ourselves, might prove themselves to be extremely embarrassing when
compared to all that Jesus is praying for personally in our regard?
Here Jesus focuses upon and prays for what we truly need―freedom
from sin and death―and here we are reminding God to give us
everything we want...as if God is some great “Santa Claus” in the
skies!
Christ is our Savior who lives with his Father in glory. He has
promised to remain with us until the end of time, to transcend space
and time so that he might fulfill his mission of freeing us from sin
and death. But, Christ can only fulfill his mission as we
devote ourselves to prayer on behalf of all those God has entrusted
to us. That’s
the point:
Jesus continues to be present among us and continues his mission,
not as we pray selfishly for ourselves and what we want, but as we pray
selflessly on
behalf of those God has entrusted to us.
Do you want better marriages, family relations, a happier life? Do
you want good friendships, to enjoy each day to the full, and to
learn the wisdom that you need to make excellent decisions?
What Jesus modeled and taught us in today’s gospel is not to pray
for what we want but to pray for others—those God has entrusted to
us—so that, through our intercessory prayer on their behalf, they
will be set free from sin and death. This is how we glorify God, as
Jesus taught when he prayed: “I glorified you on earth by
accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.”
Better marriages, better family relations, and happier lives as well
as good friendships, enjoyable days, and wisdom to make excellent
decisions require human beings who are no longer subject to the
power of sin and death. When we pray for those people who don’t
have those things,
we fulfill the mission God has entrusted to us by interceding to God
on their behalf that they be freed from the power of sin and death.
When we
“do
this in memory of me,” we will be able to pray
selflessly and confidently, as Jesus did in
today’s
gospel,
“Now glorify me, Father.” And we will hear those words for
which our souls long,
“Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter now into your
rest in the Father’s
heavenly kingdom.”
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HOMILY
