THE HUMBLE MAN’S PRAYER PIERCES THE CLOUDS.

XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 18:9-14

Through the parables, Jesus challenges his audience, forcing them to examine themselves and their relationship with God and others. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is puzzling in its simplicity. We get the impression that the Pharisee’s figure is a caricature of the Pharisees’ attitude of self-righteousness. He is full of pride, boasting about himself before God. His prayer is an act of self-praise. God must recognise his compliance with the law and reward him for his holiness. He sets himself aside, having nothing to do with all others, who are sinners and deserve to be punished. Standing for all to see his uprightness, he shows a high level of contempt for the common people, especially for the tax collector, who should not have entered the Temple. The way he presents himself provokes disgust in all those who hear his words. Our worthiness must be recognised by others, not proclaimed by ourselves. 

After painting the image of the Pharisee, Jesus outlines the figure of the tax collector with a few strokes. He is a sinner, and he confesses his sinfulness. Being sinful, he humbles himself, looking down and beating his chest. And he asks for forgiveness. His prayer is pleasing to God, while the Pharisee’s prayer is rejected

We must realise that we have nothing to boast about before God. In fact, we should recognise our shortcomings, failures and sins. If the doors of paradise are opened for us, it will be because of God’s mercy, not because we deserve it. Like the tax collector, we must approach God with humility, well aware of our poverty. No matter how much we try, we always fall short of God’s goal for each one of us.

The first reading, taken from Ecclesiasticus, reminds us that God is fair in his judgement, never taking into account our status, wealth or power. “He shows no respect of personages to the detriment of a poor man,   he listens to the plea of the injured party.”

The humble man’s prayer pierces the clouds,

  until it arrives he is inconsolable,

nor will he de)sist until the Most High takes notice of him,

  acquits the virtuous and delivers judgement.

(Sirach 35:12-14, 16-19

PRAY CONTINUALLY AND NEVER LOSE HEART

XXIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 18:1-8

This Sunday’s gospel is about prayer: “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart. “

Learning with Jesus, Paul would tell the Christians of Thessalonica, “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thes 5:17). 

Jesus speaks about two attitudes in prayer: Pray continually and with confidence. The first reading illustrates the first attitude. Moses prays, interceding for his people and asking God to make their victory possible. Many people, nowadays, say that prayer is powerful. That statement may be misleading since prayer is not a tool to be used to satisfy our desires. God is not at our service; we must be at his service, ready to do His will. In that readiness, we pray with constancy and perseverance and, then, with confidence. God will make us justice and redeem us. In the parable, the widow represents the poor of Yahweh, that is, the ones who put their trust in the Lord as their defender and protector. In God, we find our refuge and salvation. We pray to the Lord with the trust and confidence of the psalmist:

The Lord will guard you from evil,

  he will guard your soul.

The Lord will guard your going and coming

  both now and for ever. - Ps 121

The judge of the parable stands for the powerful who drown in selfishness, caring only about themselves and trampling upon the poor, the orphan and the widow. In the end, feeling pestered by the widow, he decided to hear the widow’s case and do justice. Her persistence and insistence paid off. Then, Jesus makes it clear that, unlike the Judge, God is always ready to do justice to His people: “I promise you, he will see justice done to them, and done speedily.”

A significant problem that hinders our prayer and relationship with God is a lack of faith. We have a deep-rooted mistrust of God. And this passage of the gospel of Luke ends with Jesus’ complaint: “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?”

In the second reading, taken from the second letter to Timothy, Paul reminds his disciple of the importance of the Holy Scriptures in his personal life, which have shaped him since his childhood. Then, Paul makes explicit the purpose of the Scriptures: from them, we “can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim 3:15). They lead us to Christ so that in Him we find salvation. With them, we get “fully equipped and ready for any good work”.

We should never put aside the Scriptures and ignore the role they play in our journey of faith and in building the community, always centred in Jesus Christ. Finally, the piece of advice given to Timothy can be applied to us as well: “Proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience – but do all with patience and with the intention of teaching.” (2 Tim 4:2)

As we celebrate the Sunday Mission, Paul reminds us that we are called to proclaim the gospel as he did. From the gospel springs up a stream of hope that leads us to the living waters of life and salvation. May the Lord fill us with His Spirit for us to proclaim His Good News fearlessly at all times and in all places.

JESUS, TAKE PITY ON US

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 17:11-19

Both the first reading and the gospel speak of lepers and their healing. Naaman, a foreign dignitary, was healed by the prophet Elisha. After his healing, Naaman returned to the prophet with gifts in thanksgiving. Elisha refused to accept the gifts. He did not want to gain profit from the miracle he had performed. The praise and the thanksgiving should go to the Lord God alone. And Naaman proclaimed in recognition that “there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.” (2 Kings 5:14-17). In the gospel, ten lepers went to Jesus and, appealing to Jesus’ compassion, asked to be healed. Jesus was always ready to act and relieve people of their suffering. So, he ordered them to go and present themselves to the priests for their healing to be recognised and be accepted back in their communities. They were healed and in full health. Noticing their full recovery, one of them went back to Jesus, “praising God at the top of his voice” and prostrating himself in adoration before Jesus. “The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.”

From these two passages, we learn that God has a universal purpose, showing favour to all those who are ready to receive his gifts and allow themselves to be touched by Him. There is no exclusivity or discrimination in God’s plans. The two foreigners – Naaman and the Samaritan – recognised God’s grace and professed their faith in the God who had compassion on them. By contrast, the people of Israel of Naaman’s time and the Jews of Jesus’ time showed unwillingness to recognise God’s favour and make a public profession of faith.

In the gospel, we can learn another important truth: being favoured with a miracle is not enough to be saved. We must proclaim our faith and be thankful for God’s kindness and mercy. Ten lepers had been cured of their disease, but only one came back to Jesus, and only this one heard the words of salvation: “Your faith has saved you.”

Let us give thanks to the Lord and prostrate ourselves before Jesus so that we may hear his words: “Your faith has saved you.”

WE ARE MERELY SERVANTS

XXVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4

Time and again, in the Scriptures, we see people crying out to God because they feel as if God has forgotten and abandoned them. That’s a common experience that we all go through. There are moments of hardship and suffering that bring a terrible feeling of loneliness, which may lead us to despair. And we question God, waiting for answers that don’t arrive. In spite of that, we go on looking for answers.

Abraham complained to God about being childless, questioning God about the usefulness of the promise if he did not have a son to inherit that promise. He also had the audacity to plead for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. That audacity was not born of arrogance but of full trust in God as a merciful God.

Then, with Jacob, we find someone who dared to wrestle with God in the darkness of the night. It is the wrestling of life, trying to overcome powers and beings that put us into question. Early in the morning, it dawned on him that he was wrestling with God. Jacob represents humanity that goes through moments of darkness, wrestling with unknown powers, until it dawns on us that we are wrestling with God, from whom we demand a blessing that makes life possible and meaningful.

The whole book of Job is about the suffering of the innocent who doesn’t understand the reasons behind his suffering and questions God about it. Job foreshadows Christ, the suffering servant, who addresses God with a question that so many others would ask: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Habakkuk presents the same attitude, presenting this question before God: “How long, O Lord, am I to cry for help while you will not listen; to cry ‘Oppression!’ in your ear and you will not save?” Like the psalm (Ps 22), prayed by Jesus on the cross, Habakkuk ends full of hope. God will fulfil his promise, and he has not forgotten us. He wrote our names in the palms of his hands (Is 49:16).

In scriptures of Islam and in its traditions, we find a completely different attitude. We cannot question God, and we must accept whatever Allah brings our way. Before Allah, one cannot ask questions or complain. The only possible attitude is compliance. And Allah is a whimsical god who can change his mind at any moment. In Allah, we find a raw power that must be affirmed at any moment.

It is true that Jesus came as a servant who is ready to do the Father’s will. Before God, we must humble ourselves and recognise our weaknesses and shortcomings. As servants, like Jesus, who came to serve, we must do faithfully what is asked of us. “When you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.’” (Lk 17:10).