CYCLE II: HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (2)

CYCLE II: HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

HOMILY THEME: AS YOU PRAY, REMEMBER TO FORGIVE

BY: Rev. Fr. Jacob Aondover ATSU

HOMILY: MEMORIAL OF ST ALOYSIUS GONZAGA

READINGS: SIRACH 48:1-11, PSALM 97, MATTHEW 6:7-15

‘Great is prayer’ said the Rabbis, ‘greater than all good works.’ The Jews believed so much in the power of prayer that there was this Rabbinic saying: ‘He who prays within his house surrounds it with a wall that is stronger than iron.’ However, they formalized prayer, stating particular prayers for every occasion. These became so meticulously prescribed and stated and repetitious that the meaning was lost.

Jesus condemns formalism and unnecessary babbling or repetition in prayer. For instance when we begin our prayers like: “Blessed, praised, and glorified, exalted, extolled and honoured, magnified and lauded be the name of the Lord”, what do we have in mind? Prevail on God? Impossible! Patronize or eulogize him? That’s laughable. Bribe him so as to sway his mind? This too is unthinkable! Christ simply desires that we direct all our prayers to God. He wants us to know that we pray to a ‘Father’ WHO IS HIGH ABOVE US ONLY SO AS TO BLESS US; WHO IS GREAT AND POWERFUL ONLY SO HE COULD CATER FOR OUR NEEDS AND PROTECT US FROM EVIL. He desires that we approach God as a merciful Father who is ever ready to forgive our sins whenever we repent. Indeed Christ wants us to pray to God as to a FATHER OF LOVE WHO IS MORE WILLING TO ANSWER THAN WE ARE EVEN READY TO PRAY.

Beloved friends, Jesus who is one with the Father knows that God’s gifts, graces and blessings are given gratuitously and not unwillingly extracted from him. He knows too that we do not come to a God who has to be battered, pestered, coaxed or prevailed upon (like many of us do) to answer our prayers. Aware of this, dear friends, IT IS SUFFICIENT TO GO TO GOD WITH A SIGH OF DESIRE IN OUR HEARTS, AND ON OUR LIPS THE WORDS; ‘YOUR WILL BE DONE’.

The Lord’s Prayer therefore, becomes an archetype to all good prayers: it hails God rightly, blesses his name as it should and calls down his reign upon earth. It then humbly and hopefully requests for the day’s needs only, and aware of our sinfulness begs pardon for sins and the grace to do same to our adversaries. This wonderful prayer looks to man’s concupiscence and the seduction of the world too, hence it prays for God’s cover against evil and temptation. What prayer is greater than this? What kind of prayer is more embracing than this: covering OUR PAST – ‘forgive us our trespasses’; OUR PRESENT – ‘give us this day’, and OUR FUTURE ‘lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil’. None, if I may say!

PRAYER MUST BE AND SHOULD REMAIN A LOVING GAZE TURNED TOWARDS GOD IN SUBMISSION, ABANDONMENT AND AN UNDESERVING EXPECTANCY. Because God cannot change, our prayers shouldn’t be aimed at placating, eulogizing, or ‘bribing’ God. It should be simple, humble and straight forward; not necessarily; vocal, it could be quiet too. It should help us stay in touch with God as Elijah was. That so, no task will be too hard for us, no power would subdue us, no ruler shake us (Sir. 48:13ff) and our lives would mirror God’s grace.

For the grace to pray as we ought and forgive men when they wrong us, we pray through Christ our Lord…

FEED SOME POOR AND HUNGRY FOLK…