The readings
for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C continue the theme of
prayer. In the first reading (Sirach 35:
12-14, 16-18) we read: “The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition
reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not
rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High
responds….”
From time to
time I’ve been asked, “What’s the point of praying? If God know everything and
even knows what is in our hearts before we put words to our concerns and
desires, what’s the point of praying?
Our world is
obsessed with action. We tend to think
of prayer as a last resort. When practical
action appears to be impossible we say, “Well, I guess I’ll just pray.” “Just!?”
Is prayer a last resort rather than the first?
There is a
line attributed to both St. Augustine and to St. Ignatius Loyola. While the former may have written it, the
latter, I’m told by the Jesuit historian Fr. John Padberg, did not. In fact, St. Ignatius probably reversed the
order of the saying.
The saying
goes: “Pray as though everything depends on God and work as though everything
depends on you.”
It is good
to recognize when we pray that the Holy Spirit is the one who prays within us
(see Romans 8: 26-27). And it is good to
work hard. But the reverse of the
saying—“Pray as though everything depended on you and work as though everything
depended on God”—makes more sense.
In other
words, we should put time, effort, and energy into our prayer, praying as
though it’s up to us but knowing that grace is always a gift. And we should work in such a way that we
leave the results to God rather than thinking that our sheer effort will
accomplish things.
This is
where the Gospel (Luke: 18: 9-14) comes in.
The Pharisee congratulates himself on his works and goes away
unjustified, while the tax collector prays with humility and is said to go away
justified. The key, as we’ve heard in
previous Sundays’ Gospels, is humility.
The word
comes from “humus”—dust or earth.
Humility recognizes that I am not God, not in control, and cannot
overcome every obstacle by my own effort and hard work.
Humble or
lowly prayer surrenders to God who created us to share in the love of the
Trinity and the communion of all saints.
When we pray fervently and persistently, our prayer pierces the heavens
and opens a channel for God’s grace and mercy to enter the world. Like parents who show respect and love to
their children, inviting them to work alongside of them though they do not need
their help in assembling a toy or cooking a meal, God respects and loves us by
including us in the work of caring for creation and the human family.
Prayer is
not so much changing God’s mind as opening ourselves up to Trinitarian Love and
allowing God to transform us and work through us to transform the world.
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