Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Fr. Ben Riley

All of our readings today have a common theme, a theme that is thankfully considered and spoken of often, because it is of the utmost importance. Our prayer life, is the most important aspect of our lives. In prayer we speak to and listen to the will of God. Without prayer, our lives will be a mess. But, maybe the reason why prayer is so important may not be as clear. So using our readings as a guide, let’s delve deeper into the purpose, hindrances, and power of prayer.

“The Lord is a God of justice, who knows no favorites, who hears the cries of the oppressed.” God hears and answers all prayers, including the most desperate and needy. God is not unjust or unloving, he is not deaf to our needs, or unknowing. He is infinite goodness, infinite wisdom, and infinite power. If this is not true, then God is not God. And so the first aspect of prayer, even before its purpose, is a recognition of “to whom we are praying”, to whom we lift up our voice in desperation and in praise. When our soul stirs, our hearts break, and our joy is without bounds, the noise that tears from our throat is directed toward the creator of the universe, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. He is love itself, he is mercy itself, he is power, and being and substance. And when you raise your voice to Him, God hears you. He is not arbitrary; he doesn’t play favorites. He loves every one of us infinitely.

“The one who serves God willingly is heard: his petition reaches to the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds, and the Lord will not delay.” So why, then, does it appear as though God does not answer our prayers? Every Sunday we pray for peace, but there is still so much violence in the world. We pray for mercy, and yet we are plagued with temptation. We pray for healing, and yet remain sick. Why?

God does answer our prayers. Any good father would respond to his children, but a good father does not answer to the wants of his children; a good father responds to the needs of his children. And so it is with us. God gives us what is best, and when a prayer is not answered according to our expectation, it is because we were not asking for what is best, we are imposing our will over the will of God.

And there are many reasons why we do this. Pride is always at play, believing that we know best, and not trusting that only God knows and wants what is best for us. Or is it our attachment to worldly goods or pleasures, fear of how obeying the will of God would compel us to change our ways, or pain, distracting us from turning to God in the first place, making us bitter and angry? These are all reasons why we choose our will over God’s. But there is another, and Jesus expresses it in his parable.

“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.” To truly understand the significance of this parable we need to recognize how these two people were viewed in the society of ancient Jerusalem. Tax collectors were the most hated people in Jewish society. They were traitors, who stole from their own people, by taking more taxes than were required, and the required taxes were given to the Romans who were viciously oppressing the Jewish people. In contrast, the Pharisees, were upheld as the Jews most observant of the Law. They were known for counting out individual seeds and grains, so they were sure to give 10% to God. They were fanatical about obeying God’s commandments. So why then does Jesus say the tax collector went home justified after his prayer, but not the Pharisee? Notice how they pray. The Pharisee says, “’O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity –greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.” But the tax collector would not ever raise his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast and prayed. “Oh, God be merciful to me a sinner.” And only the tax collector left justified before God. The message is clear, we are justified before God only if we ask for His forgiveness and trust in His mercy. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted. “

The act of prayer, is an act of humbling ourselves before God, of recognizing our need for his mercy and guidance in our lives. We pray so that we can discern the will of God, and knowing the will of God informs our prayer. It’s a cyclical pattern, and the ways we tap into it are varied and expansive. The ancient method is the Liturgy of the Hours, praying with the Psalms. We also use rote prayer like the Rosary, litanies, and novenas, imaginative prayer like Lectio Divina, or praying with scripture. Just sitting in silence before the Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic adoration can be prayer. The sacrifice of the Mass is the highest form of prayer. There is no right or wrong way to pray, because the purpose of prayer is deepening our relationship with God. And relationships are strengthened in all kinds of ways. There is no need to make it overly complicated. Just speak to God as a friend and then listen to what He has to say.

A few weeks ago, a student in the prep classes asked me how we know if God is speaking to us? And that’s a good question, because we are not listening with our ears we are listening with our hearts. The most important thing is believing that God does actually speak to you, that the Holy Spirit does move in us and compel us to make decisions. If you are staying close to God in prayer, and staying close to Him through the sacraments, then when He touches your heart, don’t dismiss it. Don’t offer some explanation or justification, but trust that God is trying to tell you something. He is trying to reveal His will to you, and lead you to joy and peace. The easiest way to hear the voice of God is to not be surprised when he answers our prayers.

Finally, what is the goal? We spoke about the purpose of prayer, but what’s the end game? Saint Paul tells us in his letter to Timothy. “I am already poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” The purpose of prayer is a relationship with God, but the goal is to deepen that relationship with Him in heaven for all eternity. Saint Paul was nearing the end of his life, and so naturally he is reflecting on his life. He ran the race, he strived after and fought for a relationship with God. He did this through prayer and obeying the will of God, and now he is enjoying an eternal reward.

Prayer does nothing for God, it does something for us. So, don’t hesitate to lift up your voice, make a joyful noise to the Lord, and speak to the loving creator of the universe, the loving creator of you.