1. --
Lanie LeBlanc OP
2. --
Carol & Dennis Keller
3. --
Brian Gleeson CP
4. --
5. --(Your
reflection can be here!)
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Sun. 29 C 2019
Well, I am all for prayer but I know I am not for it
being used to "mow down " an enemy as was mentioned in the
first reading! Yea for Jesus and the New Testament! At least
those who understand the times/ people/customs of long ago
will not have to continually battle strict fundamentalists
over every word in the New Testament as well as the Old
Testament.
But back to prayer and "the necessity ... to pray always
without becoming weary." Most people would hesitate before
giving a quick answer to the question, "Is God slow to
answer prayer?"... unless he/she replied with a very firm
Yes. It is so very difficult to remember that God's ways,
especially when dealing with time, just do not match ours.
We live in a right now society. Even those of us who
intentionally stay out of the fast lane are prone to ask God
"when???", sometimes, often, or repeatedly! I can attest to
the fact that "waiting " for an answer to prayer becomes
easier as one ages... sorta.
I could probably mirror what I have just said with the
words "justice" and "speedily" also. Injustice seems to be
ever-growing rather than decreasing in today's world.
Perhaps, in addition to patience and persistence, we need to
have a stronger dose of faith and trust and hope.
There is a haunting question of faith at the end of the
Gospel selection ("when the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on the earth?") that makes me take a deep breath. Then
I go back to the charge we have each been given (especially
we Dominicans) from the second reading. It says "to proclaim
the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or
inconvenient."
Except for a very few planned speaking engagements in the
past, I can not ever remember when proclaiming the word was
really "convenient"! Most of the time, it coincides with
being present to someone in need or speaking up gently in
times of controversy. A person can only do that effectively
at those times and basically be a joyful person if he/she is
steeped in prayer especially contemplation.
Yes, there is really a necessity to pray always without
becoming weary! In addition to our prayers of petition and
intercession as well as contemplation, let us remember that
prayer also includes praise and thanksgiving. Fostering the
latter two regularly in a family or community has been
proven to uplift the spirits of the entire group in
general... we surely can use positive attitudes and
gratitude in today's world of turmoil, don't you think?!!
Blessings,
Dr. Lanie
LeBlanc OP
Southern
Dominican Laity
lanie@leblanc.one
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Twenty Ninth Sunday of Ordered Time October 20,
2019
Exodus 17:8-13; Responsorial Psalm 121; 2nd Timothy
3:14 – 4:2; Gospel Acclamation Hebrews 4:12; Luke 18:1-8
Last Sunday was "Gratitude Sunday," a Sunday on which we
reflected on the gifts that come to us moment by moment
through others, through creation, and through the presence
of the Living God. This Sunday continues our instruction
about how God works for us, with us, and through us. This is
"Prayer Sunday."
The first reading is about the twelve tribes just freed
from slavery under Pharaoh. They fled Egypt taking with them
gifts from the Egyptians relieved from the terror of ten
plagues. The tribes carried with them gold and silver and
precious jewels. At this early stage of their journey into
nationhood, they were unorganized and totally unskilled in
strategies and tactics of warfare. As they made their way
down the caravan routes across the Sinai, their route took
them into the territory controlled by the Amalekites whose
leader was Amalek. These people would lie in wait on the
caravan routes. They made their living extorting goods and
gold and silver from passing trade caravans. Amalek believed
these unskilled, unorganized Hebrew tribes would be easy
pickings. There was no escape for the Hebrews by another
route. Moses came to Joshua, a young man with some military
skills, and instructed him to pick men from the tribes to
confront Amalek. And so he did. The slaves, now turned
soldiers, went into battle against the practiced and
tactically skilled Amalekites. It should have been an easy
victory for Amalek. However, Moses took a place on a hill
overlooking the battle field and there, holding the staff of
confrontation with Pharaoh, raised his hands to the God who
freed them. Moses was a sign to the men battling Amalek of
the presence of God in their conflict. As the battle wore on
Moses became tired. Aaron and Hur helped Moses in his
fatigue to continue his mediation with God for the men
fighting for the lives and freedom of the families escaped
from Pharaoh.
Our first inclination is to think God fought alongside
the Hebrews. But it was the swords of Joshua’s chosen band
that defeated Amalek’s bandits. It was God’s presence that
supplied the courage and enhanced the will of Joshua’s men.
They were fortified by the presence of God. That presence
was symbolized by Moses on the hill. When Moses tired and
fell from the sight of the Joshua’s men, the battle went
badly for them.
Here is a lesson for us. When God is present with us we
are able to overcome whatever comes our way. Even if we are
bruised and broken, God’s presence keeps us. If we fail to
"see" God, if we fail to recognize God’s presence with us,
we find ourselves struggling and overcome. We discover we
are merely prey to those and to what threatens us. So often
in the violence of our world, it appears God has forgotten
us, that God has abandoned us to those who would break our
spirits and lose our freedom. We become slaves to Pharaoh.
So often we think of the children, the women, and the men in
foreign lands who are victims to the depravity, the greed,
and the tyrannical wishes of despots. We wonder where God is
for them. We wonder if perhaps God has gotten tired of our
failures. Does God tire of our weaknesses? Does God throw up
God’s hands in frustration? If we allow ourselves such
despair we come to believe that God’s image and likeness in
us is snuffed out. We think ourselves alone to face the
vicious beasts that would rob us of our freedom, our joy,
and the peace we desperately need to grow.
In the early stages of our growth toward the fullness
that is meant to be our destiny, we approach God as we would
our mothers and fathers. We whine, we cajole, we beg. When
the answers we receive are not to our liking we come to the
conclusion that we are not good enough to gain God’s
attention. Or perhaps we are told that we just haven’t
prayed hard enough, long enough, or with purity of
intention. We’re in the stage of toddlers in our spiritual
life. Our prayers are about "getting things." We look at
prayer as a sort of magic incantation.
As we grow in the ways of the world we move along to
another stage of prayer. It’s the deal making of
adolescence. "Listen God! I’ll come to Mass every Sunday and
Holy Day if you would give me…" Or even better! "If you give
me that car I like, I’ll drive my friends to church and to
school every day." It’s looking to God as an indulgent uncle
or aunt. It’s looking at God for a gift. God’s gift is meant
to lessen our personal responsibility to make an effort to
attain what we need. It would be like Joshua looking to
Moses on the hill and thinking, saying, instructing his
troops – "Let’s let God do the heavy lifting. He’s got the
power, he’s got the resources, he can do it for us." God
doesn’t go back on his commitment to us. God endowes us with
heart and mind and hands and feet. It’s up to us to bring
about the changes necessary for the survival of humanity and
the flourishing of our common home. Like Joshua, we need
God’s presence signified by Moses with uplifted hands.
Saints have told us, "God has no hands but ours."
As we come into young adulthood, we enter a new
relationship with God. It’s more of a "get out of my way, I
can do this" phase. We tend to place God off stage as a
prompter when we forget our lines. We’re busy collecting,
accumulating, and developing productive relationships with
others and with the social-economic systems of our world.
Our prayers tend to be about getting more stuff or improving
relationships so that we gain something for ourselves. There
is a great deal of pride in this stage. It often takes a
tragedy for us to get past this phase.
In middle age we come to realize that the accumulation,
the productive relationships, power achieved, influence
collected, and pleasures enjoyed seem like fool’s gold.
There is no lasting satisfaction in those things. We’re
stuck with running on a hamster’s wheel in continual pursuit
of what loses appeal. The alternative is to look again for
God’s presence. If we mature in our faith we come to realize
the God-spark within our persons has been covered over.
Those who search for meaning and purpose in life at this
point in the arc of their existence turn to discovering
wisdom and understanding of their lives. For many this is a
period of despair and desperation. Life is slipping through
our fingers and we’ve little to show for it. What’s it all
about? How much time have I wasted pursuing meaningless and
purposeless things?
C. G. Jung, the respected psychologist writes often about
the unconscious that he discovered in his patients. There
resides in our persons a spark that often remains
unattended. For him it was something endowed by the creator
in each person. That unique spark was constantly at work
struggling to be discovered and fanned into flame. When
there was an effort to bring that unconscious into
consciousness those persons gained a sense of completeness.
With that sense of completeness there comes joy and an
abiding peace permeating all this person did and thought.
What has this to do with prayer? Prayer is often divided
into types – petition, adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.
But at the very heart of prayer is the recognition of what
we are. We pray best when we discover we derive out
fulfillment from God our creator. Prayer is getting in touch
with the godness that is in us. The uniqueness of each
person that ever lived, that lives now, or that will live in
the future springs from an expression of God. It’s not that
all creation added up would equal God. That’s just not
possible. It’s that God is in everything and in every one in
a unique way. That is why each person – no matter how
attractive or how repulsive physically, no matter how
focused on goodness or how depraved and evil – each person
has a dignity and worth they cannot forfeit.
Prayer is getting in touch with the source of our
goodness. Prayer is the building up of a relationship with
our source and our destiny. The more we connect with God,
the more God’s presence becomes increasingly a part of who
and what we are. This doesn’t mean that God steps in to do
our work for us. This doesn’t mean that we can negotiate
with God for lottery numbers. It does mean that what is
truly valuable in a lasting and forever way becomes more and
more apparent to us.
We should remember God gifted us with time. That is so we
can grow, that we can change our lives. Just as seeds
planted need time to germinate, to sprout, to come to full
height, and eventually produce seed or fruit, so also what
we are at our beginning is only a seed that needs light,
moisture, and good earth to grow. Prayer never takes the
place of effort on our part. Prayer helps us to find a way,
to discover wonder, to help us when oppression and war
threaten us with death.
We pray in private, often using mantras that are
repetition of phrases or prayers. These are most helpful in
that they cause us to focus. We pray in public when we lift
up our hearts in song, in celebration, in mourning, or in
efforts to bring about goodness. We pray as a community when
we come together to listen to the Word of God and to give
thanks for what we have and share. Community prayer binds us
to one another and helps us form the army that defeats
Amalek who would rob us of what is most important.
Pray often, pray with attention, and practice praying.
Like any muscle, prayer strengthens our spiritual muscles,
enlightens our eyes, and helps us discover the wonder of
life and of all creation. When we see, when we hear, when we
taste, when we touch, when we smell the wonder around us, we
discover God’s living presence and in that presence discover
joy and abundant peace. Let us pray!
Carol & Dennis Keller
dkeller002@nc.rr.com
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KEEP ON PRAYING: 29th SUNDAY C
A while back, Christopher Monaghan, a brother Passionist,
was giving Holy Communion at St Paul Apostle Church
Endeavour Hills (Australia). A small four-year-old boy came
to the top of the line. He looked up at Chris, put out his
left hand and said in a big voice: ‘I want it here, and I
want it now.’ This was one time, however, that sheer
determination and persistence could not prevail.
By contrast, the widow in the story Jesus told got what
she wanted and needed. To appreciate her desperation it
helps to know that she was living at a time and place when
widows counted for nothing. There was no widow’s pension, no
social services of any kind. She could not inherit the
property of her late husband. She wasn’t actually allowed to
go to court and appeal for assistance. So we have to admire
her front and daring in approaching the judge, and
presenting herself not once, not twice, but over and over
again. Maybe every morning, noon and night!
She must have been particularly desperate too, to keep
approaching a judge with such a bad reputation – a
reputation for being always on the take, for always taking
bribes. A judge who had no reverence for God and no respect
for fellow human beings either! A real crook, in fact!
So it comes as a complete surprise that against all the
odds the widow wins her case against her opponent and gets
justice from that crooked judge. How did she do it? How did
she succeed? She succeeded because she kept pestering him.
She was always in his face. She gave him no rest, no peace.
Night and day she drove him crazy. She never let up. So
finally, just to get her out of his hair, he gave in to her
demands and pleas.
Luke sums up the point of the story in these few
well-chosen words: ‘Jesus told the disciples a parable about
the need to pray always and not to lose heart’ (18:1). Of
course, Jesus is not saying that God is like the judge in
any way. And he is not saying that we have to nag and wear
God down like the widow wore down the judge. What Jesus is
saying, on the contrary, is that if in the end an evil judge
can give a poor widow justice, how much more will God our
loving Father give his children what we need most of all.
We might well ask, though, why Jesus taught us to keep
asking God for what we need, when God already knows our
needs. In short, why does God want us to name our needs
quite specifically? It’s so that we might keep in touch with
God. It’s so that we might express our dependence on God and
acknowledge God’s love, mercy and goodness towards us. It’s
so that we won’t take any of God’s gifts and blessings for
granted.
What blessings? The blessings, for instance, of life
itself; of food; drink; health; fitness and medicine! The
blessings of family; friends; children and community! The
blessings of gardens; flowers; trees; pets; music; education
and travel! The blessings of fresh air; sunshine and rain,
warmth and coolness! The blessings of beauty; sport; art;
comedy; drama and dance! The blessings of meaning;
belonging; and a sense of responsibility! The blessings of
the persons of Jesus Christ our brother and Saviour, and of
Mary, his mother and ours! The blessing of the constant
presence of God; the promise and assurance of everlasting
life with God! And in the meantime the blessings of faith,
hope and love!
It happens in our prayer for our needs though, that at
times God does not seem to be listening. We run into
darkness and silence. At these times we might think: ‘I’m
getting nowhere. What’s the use? Why keep on praying?’
That’s precisely why Jesus gave us his message today, his
message to keep praying, no matter what.
The trouble with us human beings is that we fancy we know
exactly what’s good for us. The truth is that we have
limited vision, even tunnel vision. The truth is that we
don’t know exactly what’s going to happen next year, next
month, next week, next hour, or even in the next few
minutes. Only God sees time as a whole, and only God knows
what is good and what is best for us, both in the long run
and in the short run. That is why Jesus wants us, as Luke
puts it, ‘to pray continually and never lose heart’.
We will never lose heart and we will never lose our faith
in the power of prayer, if after putting all our requests,
pleas and petitions to God, we add a few special words to
our prayer. Those words are from the perfect prayer we will
be saying today before our Holy Communion! They are the
words: ‘thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven’.
"Brian
Gleeson CP" <bgleesoncp@gmail.com>
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Volume 2 is for you. Your thoughts, reflections,
and insights on the next Sundays readings can influence the
preaching you hear. Send them to
preacherexchange@att.net. Deadline is
Wednesday Noon. Include your Name, and Email Address.
-- Fr. John
