GOD LISTENS TO THE OUTCRY OF HIS PEOPLE

XVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Genesis 18:20-32

An outcry was heard by God

When we read Gn 18:20-32, it sounds as if God did not know what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah. It was only a great outcry against them that brought their evil behaviour to his attention. Or maybe God would let it go or give them time, if it was not for the outcry. We do not know who was crying out. Where they the neighbouring towns and villages, or were they people living within, who felt oppressed and unable to live their own lives in a dignified manner?

Hearing the outcry, God decided to go and verify for himself. Time and again, in the Bible, we find this attitude on God’s side: it seems as if he does not see, or he does not care; or maybe he is not even there. It is when he hears an outcry, that he springs into action. God is always moved by an outcry of the people. And an outcry happens, when the situation becomes unbearable.

We can look at our society and, as we look and make an effort to listen, we can hear an outcry of uncountable voices that spreading. There is the outcry against a corrupt society, where the only value is the claimed right to do whatever pleases and satisfies my heart; and there is the outcry of all those who suffer violence, torture and death at the hands of those who claim to be righteous and submissive to God’s will.

Like Abraham, we must become intercessors

God made friends with Abraham and, out of friendship, he decided to reveal his plans for Sodom and Gomorrah. That is the first big surprise of this text - that God establishes a relationship of trust with his friends and shares with them his judgement. The second surprise is that Abraham has the audacity of trying to change God’s plans, appealing to his justice, a justice that is based on his love and mercy. And God obliges. Abraham did not ask anything for himself. God’s promise to him was more than enough to bring peace to his heart. He was asking God to have mercy on evil people, taking into account the goodness of just a few. We must learn from Abraham to become intercessors before God for all those who have gone astray. With Sodom and Gomorrah, it seems that it was already too late. However, in consideration for Abraham, God took Lot and his family away from that evil place, because in his justice, God cannot punish the just and treat them with the same fate of the evil.

Our prayer, an outcry before God

In the Gospel (Lk 11:1-13), Jesus teaches us to transform our prayer into an outcry before God. We cannot get tired of knocking and pleading, until God pays attention to us and listens to us. And we must learn with Abraham how to ask and what to ask for. We cannot present selfish requests before God. Instead, we pray for the others, and we pray for life and salvation, or as Jesus puts it, we pray for the Holy Spirit, who is the greatest gift that God will never refuse to give. God knows what is better for us and he gives us only the best - the Holy Spirit, who transforms us into his children.