topleft05.jpg (18208 bytes)HOMILY
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
17 October 10
 


 

In today’s gospel, Jesus presents two parables concerning prayer, each suggesting that prayer is one of the primary ways by which his disciples demonstrate their faith in God’s presence and vindication.

But, what does that really mean?

For an answer to this question, let’s first consider a bit of background context, namely, how Luke fills his gospel with images of what it means to pray.

For example, Luke begins his gospel in the context of Jewish prayer in the Temple at Jerusalem, when Zechariah is told that his prayer has been heard (1:13).  The infancy narratives are replete with prayers, those uttered by Zechariah, Mary, Simeon, Anna, as well as angels and shepherds. So, too, Luke depicts Jesus praying in the most important events in his life: at his baptism (3:21); when choosing of the Twelve (6:12); at the Transfiguration, the Last Supper, and even at his death on the cross.  Luke also depicts Jesus sometimes praying for the entire night (6:12).

Prayer, then, is an important element of Luke’s gospel.  But, again, what does this really mean?

Perhaps Luke wants us to notice in each of these moments of prayer that the people who are praying were not asking God for something.  Instead, they were demonstrating great faith by opening themselves God’s presence in each of those situations and seeking to align themselves with God’s will.  Nowhere was this more the case than in the situation in which each found themselves: they were desperate and God seemed to be entirely absent.  Instead of trying to fit God conveniently into their lives in the way each of them wanted, they were making their lives revolve around God, even in the most desperate of situations.

This is the context for considering today’s gospel in which Jesus offers two parables concerning prayer, especially praying in those desperate situations where we believe that God is most absent.  Today, let’s consider the first parable (18:1-8)—popularly known as “the parable of the widow’s mite”—through which Jesus reminds his disciples to persist in prayer so that they will not fall victim to apostasy (v. 8), that is, to allow desperate situations to overwhelm his disciples to the point that they turn from their faith that God is present and will ultimately vindicate them.

For the more “linearly-minded” among us, Jesus’ idea can be presented in the form of a flow chart:

             desperation         →             faith                           life
               [situation]                           [prayer]                       [vindication]
                                        align and commit to God
’s will:
                                                     to live in hope
 

Similarly, the opposite of Jesus’ idea can also be presented in the form of a flow chart:

            desperation          →          no faith                       death
              [situation]                         [no prayer]                   [condemnation]
                                           align and commit to nothing:
                                               to live in hopelessness
 

The parable of the widow’s mite presents two contrasting images.  The first, a “corrupt” judge, an image of power in any society which is governed by law but, here, the image of power that has been corrupted.  The second, a widow, an image of helplessness in Jesus’ culture, a person who is easily victimized by the powerful and corrupt.  The widow’s “mite” reminds Jesus’ disciples that God “will vindicate [the helpless]” (18:8) if they persist in prayer.  After all, Jesus seems to be asking, if a powerful and corrupt judge will relent to a helpless widow who persists in seeking to present her case to the judge, how could God not listen to the prayers of his beloved sons and daughters in their helplessness?

Of course, this assumes that those beloved sons and daughters are able to identify those situations where they are helplessness.

Let’s consider an example from just this past week.

Full of hope and anticipation, I’m sure many of us watched our televisions as the longest underground nightmare in history ended safely—and faster than anyone expected.  In what appeared to be a flawless engineering feat, thirty three miners who were trapped for more than two months deep beneath the earth in a Chilean mine were raised one by one on Wednesday through a smooth-walled shaft of rock.

The last man out was the shift foreman.  His name is Luis Urzua and he was responsible for holding the group together when they were feared lost and wondered whether they would ever see the light of day again.  Urzua enforced tight rations so their food and supplies would last until help could arrive.  Upon his rescue, Urzua said: “We have done what the entire world was waiting for.  We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing.”

Yes, indeed.  And, it might be asked, “Where did that strength and spirit come from?”

“We have prayed to San Lorenzo, the patron saint of miners, and to many other saints,” said Priscila Avalos, “so that my brothers Florencio and Renan would come out of the mine all right.  It is as if they had been born again.”

The miners as well as the members of their families were helpless and the situation was desperate.  Yet, through it all, the miners as well as the members of their families persisted.  In the end, God vindicated the faith expressed in their prayers.

Desperation.  Prayer.  New life.  Vindication.  Now, that’s gospel language!

Desperation.  No prayer.  Death.  Condemnation.  That’s the antithesis of the gospel!

The problem for us as disciples is that we oftentimes don’t want to admit our helplessness, even if we know we are helpless.  Furthermore, rather than persisting in prayer, we lose faith and fall into sin.

Let me suggest three situations in our lives where, like the Chilean miners and their families, we typically experience helplessness: spouses who are desperate for their spouse to change into more loving persons; young people who are desperate to be liked and accepted by their peers; and, patients who are afflicted by potentially terminal diseases.

Many spouses experience helplessness in their attempts to change their spouse’s behaviors and/or attitudes.  Desperate for their spouse to become a more loving person, it is not unusual for these spouses to grow increasingly bitter, frustrated, hostile, and angry, not realizing they not only are not praying, but they also are becoming the antithesis of what prayer requires in this seemingly desperate situation.

What does prayer require?

Like the widow, to persist in believing that God is present and through persisting in prayer, living in hope that God will vindicate the spouse’s faith.

The challenge which prayer poses to spouses who are immersed in this seemingly desperate situation, then, is to persist in prayer by discerning more accurately what it means “to love, honor, and obey…all the days of my life” until the day comes when God will vindicate this spouse’s fidelity.

This is very tough spiritual medicine, because many spouses believe they are God.

Many young people also experience helplessness in their attempts to be liked and accepted by their peers.  Desperate to become someone they are not, these young people grow increasingly frustrated and angry with as well as alienated from themselves, failing to realize not only that they are not praying, but also that they are becoming the antithesis of what prayer requires of them in this seemingly desperate situation.

And, what might that be?

Like the widow, to persist in believing that God is present and through persisting in prayer, living in hope that God will vindicate the faith of young people.

The challenge which prayer poses to young people, then, is to remain obedient to God’s will and to become the person God has created each of them to become, not a clone of their peers but as God created each of them, a unique and unrepeatable person in all of human history.  It is in this seemingly desperate situation where persistence in prayer will enable young people to discern their personal vocations until the day comes when God—not one’s peers—will vindicate each young person’s fidelity.

This is tough spiritual medicine, because many young people believe their peers are gods.

Likewise, when a potentially terminal disease like cancer or AIDS strikes its victim, it is very easy for the victim to feel helpless.  Oftentimes and quite understandably, victims of potentially terminal diseases will ask: “Why has God done this to me?”  Of course, when the answer doesn’t come in the form of a positive medical prognosis or hoped-for cure, it is not unusual that the victims become depressed and grow angry with God.  Not only are these victims not praying, but they also are becoming the antithesis of what prayer requires of them in this seemingly desperate situation.

And, what is that?

Like the widow, to persist in believing that God is present and through persisting in prayer, God will vindicate their faith.

The challenge which prayer presents to seriously ill patients is to grasp hold of and to understand the truth that good cannot beget evil (i.e., God is not the source of the disease, the power of Evil is).  Persistence in prayer is how seriously ill patients will discern this truth, as the power of Evil seeks to destroy their faith in God by afflicting those who were once strong with weakness and perhaps even death until the day comes when God—not physicians—will vindicate the seriously ill patient’s fidelity.

This is tough spiritual medicine because we want to believe that physicians are gods.

In each of these seemingly desperate situations where we believe that God is absent, Jesus’ parable about the “widow’s mite” reminds us to persist in prayer.  In this way, we will not all ourselves to fall victim to apostasy by turning from our faith that God is present and will vindicate us.

In another place of Luke’s gospel, the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us how to pray.”  In the parable of the widow’s mite, Jesus suggests that “how to pray” is “to demonstrate faith in God’s presence and vindication,” even when the situation seems desperate and God seems to be absent.  Jesus is not teaching that prayer is something we use to pressure God into giving us what we want or to make a deal with us.  No, Jesus is teaching that prayer is how we open ourselves to God and align ourselves with God’s will, so that we remain obedient to God and fulfill our personal vocations, even in the most desperate situations.

When we persist in prayer full of faith in God’s presence and vindication, perhaps the most surprising thing about praying as Jesus has taught is its effect upon us. Not only do we admit that we are helpless and entirely dependent upon God, but we also fix our eyes firmly on God—not others and not the power of Evil—who alone possesses the power to vindicate us.  In this way, prayer evidences faith—that we are open to and aligned with God’s will—and provides the true test of the authenticity of our faith.

 

 

A brief commercial break...
 

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