Today’s Homily - by Prior, Fr. Joel Macul, OSB
Genesis 18:20–32
Colossians 2:12–14
Luke 11:1–13
Luke often presents Jesus as a model of how a disciple is to act. Today Jesus is the model for a person who prays. A disciple sees Jesus praying and asks him to teach them as well. What we hear then is a sort of summary about Jesus thinking on prayer.
The basis of prayer is quite simple. It is a form of communication with someone whom we believe is the source of life and from whom we draw life. Prayer implies a relationship of some familiarity and openness. It is easy for us to say that prayer is communication with God because he is the source of life and so is bound to us who come from him. But consider some other factors that influence how we understand God. How much in charge of life is God? Don’t you and I have a lot of control over our lives today? With our science and technology, we can solve a lot, we can supply a lot. We have a knowledge that says, I know where this comes from or how this works. We have achieved a lot. That is all wonderful. But at the same time, we have reduced the areas in which at one time we took for granted that God is in charge. Only in extreme cases do we find it necessary to turn to God.
Consider another factor of present-day life. Much of what we do is instant. We get instant results in many areas. And we want instant results in many areas. We press a button and we get a person on the other end. We touch a key on the computer and up comes the relevant information. Maybe we have a crisis—someone unexpectedly ill, an economic need, a death by accident, so we pray. Do we carry with us the expectation of instant results in prayer? We ask, so we expect to receive today. And notice our impatience in ordinary things when we call for service and it is not forthcoming very soon. Do we pray and have expectations of how we should be answered? We know what we are looking for, so is that what we should go for? Is that what we need?
In the readings today we get some intriguing images of what prayer is all about. Abraham seems to be haggling with God. Abraham knows very well that God is in charge. God has stated his intentions quite clearly. He is going to see things for himself regarding Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham knows what he’ll see and what he’ll do: destroy the whole city and population. But Abraham starts to bargain with God. Abraham comes across as a good Middle Eastern buyer who won’t let up until the price is within range or what it should be. So Abraham bargains for God’s justice and faithfulness to even the few. And he gets it down to ten good people and the whole will be spared. He appeals to God as God. It looks like a merchant and a buyer in a Middle Eastern bazaar. But Abraham knows that he is talking with God, the final authority. But he appeals to the best of what God is—the one who saves for the sake of a handful. The end of the story is that Abraham and God each make out. God does bring justice and Abraham at least knows that mercy is shown even in a situation that is dire and facing doom.
Is prayer about haggling and bargaining? Perhaps, as long as we know that God will be God in the end and I don’t have the last word. Perhaps it is about haggling as long as we are haggling about God being true to himself. Abraham never appealed for his family directly. What he appealed to was God to be faithful to those who are faithful to him, even a few. Prayer to God implies that we have a relationship to the one to whom we are praying. If we call upon that relationship only when we are desperate, then maybe we will get our priorities mixed up. We may ask as Jesus tells us. But ask about what? Prayer as we hear about it today means that we can be as familiar as Abraham is with the Lord. But we can also be as unconditional and leave it in the hands of the Lord at the end.
Jesus offers two images of prayer. The first image is of a sleeping man who is woken at midnight because of a friend pleading for assistance. We might not like to think of God as the person who is asleep when we come calling. But that is the way life is. Crises come when they come. The visitor comes when they come. In an age and time when communication was slow, that could be anytime. But God is the sleepy householder who gets up and helps out his friend. He does it because he has what his friend needs. He does it because what his friend is asking for is much larger than just a personal need. Hospitality was not just a private affair; it was an affair for the whole community. If the man who was in bed refused help, it was the same as saying to the visitor, you are not welcome here! Get out and move on! In Jesus day, that was unthinkable. The arrival of a visitor was a chance for the whole community to demonstrate its capacity to welcome and share. The man’s prayer to his friend drew on what the man could offer; it drew on the best of what was expected of a fellow human being. Does it say something about our prayer to each other in the course of a day? Is what we ask of each other something that we are able to share? Will sharing it show honor and respect to another? And will it not be that by sharing it, we will honor and respect our humanity.
The other image Jesus gives us is that of a father caring for his children. When the father is doing his best, he will not cheat his children of what they ask for. He will not cheat them because what they ask for is food; namely what is essential for life. When he gives it, he will function as a true father. The implication is that a true father will not cheat his children. If he does cheat them, then he is no longer worthy of being called a father. If he cheats, not only are the children cheated but he too is a disgrace to others. Jesus implies that God is like that and more. He will not trick anyone because that is not what asking and receiving is all about. But even more, God is capable of satisfying our prayer with what we truly need. In the end, it is about need and not wants. Jesus says a human father takes care of the needs of his children, gives them food. What God gives is his own Spirit. A share in his own life. What God gives to those who ask is a share in the very fabric of what binds God the Father and Son together and what binds them both to the world and the human family.
What is prayer in the end says Jesus? It is asking God for his Holy Spirit with the assurance that he will give it us. It is the Spirit that carries with it the power to forgive, the grace to share even if what we have is small. It is the spirit that will move us to open ourselves even when not convenient. And lastly it is the Spirit that will let us stand strong when difficulties seem to overwhelm us and cut away at our security. In the end, we pray for the Spirit because that keeps us human and keeps us in communion with God, the source of all life.