Our Father

An oldie but goodie.

The air conditioning in the Catholic Church had broken down, so they had to hire a man to crawl around in the ducts to figure out what was wrong. As the man peeked down through one of the vents in the sanctuary, he saw his neighbor, an elderly lady who was kneeling by the altar apparently saying her rosary. The man just cold not resist the temptation to mess with this poor lady's mind. In his most authoritative voice, he said, "This is Jesus. Your prayers will be answered."

The little old lady didn't even blink; she just kept on saying her prayers. The man decided maybe she didn't hear him, and tried again. "This is Jesus, the Son of God! Your prayers will be answered!"

Again, she didn't react at all. Mustering up a big breath of air, the man decided to try one more time. He loudly repeated, "This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Your prayers will be answered!"

This good Catholic woman looked up and answered, "Young Man. Quiet, please! I am trying to talk to your mother!" [i]

Prayer. It can be humorous. It can be frustrating. It can be rewarding. It was apparently rewarding for Jesus, for he appeared to his apostles so energized after a night in prayer that they asked him to teach them how to pray.

It's interesting that the apostles had to ask Jesus how to pray. He had taught them many things, tools they would need in their ministry. Why hadn't he taught them to pray? Perhaps because the only real prayer, the one that's always answered, is the prayer that asks for the Holy Spirit. Jesus says at the end of today's gospel "If you, evil as you are, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" (Luke 11:13).

But you can't tell someone to pray for the Holy Spirit. They have got to want to; they have to feel the need. And that's something Jesus couldn't force on the apostles. But when they finally did ask him, when he saw they had the need, then he taught them to pray.

Also, for Jesus prayer was a private matter. He had seen too many hypocrites crying out in the public square, praying to draw attention. Jesus told his apostles to go their room and pray in private.

Jesus spent nights in prayer. He must have felt the need for prayer as greater than the need for sleep. "True prayer, the sincere unburdening of one's soul before God, may not change things but changes people. As C. S. Lewis said: 'Prayer doesn't change God; it changes me.' [ii]

True prayer is finding out what God wants us to do, not getting him to do what we want to do. "A disciple goes to an elder and says, 'I really like it here, and I'd like to stay. But I need to know, does your God work miracles? ' The elder replies, 'It all depends on what you think is a miracle. There are those who say that a miracle is when God does the will of the people. But we say here that a miracle is when people do the will of God.'" [iii]

A minister was invited to speak at a women's conference. During the program, the chair of one of the organization's committees announced plans for a new mission project and challenged the membership to take on the goal of raising several thousand dollars for the project. After her presentation, the chair turned to the minister and asked if he would pray for God's blessing upon the project. But to her surprise, the minister graciously declined.

"You already have the resources necessary to complete this mission project right here in this room," he told the women. "It would be inappropriate to ask for God's blessing, when God has already blessed you with the abundance and means to achieve this goal. The necessary gifts are in your hands. As soon as we take the offering and underwrite this mission project, we will thank God for freeing us to be the generous, responsible and accountable stewards that we are called to be as disciples." [iv] God rejoices in our persistence to have him grant our prayers. He wants to work in coalition with us. We see this in the first reading where Abraham barters with God on how many just people need to be found in Sodom and Gomorrah for God to spare the city.

"Does this mean that without Abraham's mercy God would not have had mercy? Who knows? It didn't happen that way. What did happen was that a creature pressed the Creator for mercy and it was granted [for ten just men. Unfortunately not even ten could be found].

In that light the strange teaching of Jesus in Luke 11 becomes clearer. God encourages persistence in praying because in that way a coalition is formed. The compassion of a creature joins with the compassion and power of the Creator, and a situation turns from rigid legalism to mercy. Abraham discovered in his persistence that God was not always a rigid legalist. Abraham also discovered in his persistence that God invites dialogue, even though to some of us it may seem aggressive. God asks for strong partners. [v]

Abraham shows persistence. Jesus also underlines this quality in prayer in a small parable he tells at the end of the gospel about a friend coming at night to another friend and knocking on his door till his friend got up and gave him what he wanted.

"There is a company in the Midwest that specializes in handling subscription mailings for various magazines. Among other things, they send out renewal and expiration notices. But one day the company's computer malfunctioned. As a result, a rancher in Powder Bluff, Colorado, received 9734 separate mailings informing him that his National Geographic subscription had expired and that it was time for him to renew. In response to that flood of notices, the rancher drove the ten miles to the nearest post office and sent in his money for the renewal. In addition, he sent along a note that said, "I give up! Send me your magazine." In a way, the subscription company learned that persistence does pay off." [vi]

Heartwarming is the encouragement that persistence will make a difference n the ultimate outcome. God will not fail to meet our needs. That's not the same as assuming God will meet all our wants. There's a difference.

God's initial silence after we come with a pressing need should not reduce us to a bitter cynicism that wonders whether prayer is worth the effort. God 's silence doesn't necessarily mean "No." The silence is more likely a testing whether our prayers are truly expressive of our need, truly representative of our desire to share our greatest hopes and fears with God. Overriding everything is the great truth that, unlike earthly fathers who may or may not provide what their children need, God will never fail us because God is both eager and able. That is the final and great lesson.

The challenge for us, I should think, is not how well we can craft touching prayers when we have ample advance notice. It is rather how well we know that our words don't matter a bit but that what counts is how well we trust. When faith and trust move us, the most illiterate peasant will be able to pray as well or better than the most eloquent preacher. Best of all, no one should feel the need to ask, "Lord, teach us to pray." [vii]

When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a prayer, and a miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune would be averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to say the prayer, he would go to the same place in the forest and say, "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer." Again, a miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, "I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place, and that must sufficient." Once again, there was a miracle. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God, "I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is tell the story, and that must be sufficient." And it was sufficient. Again a miracle occurred and the misfortune was avoided. There is nothing magical about the Lord's Prayer. Rather the reward of prayer is found as we consistently turn to God in faith. [viii]

And finally, if you make your life a prayer, you can end up like grandpa.

A little boy approaches his slightly older sister with this question: "Susie, can anybody ever really see God?"

Busy with other things, Susie curtly replies: No, of course not, silly. God is so far up in heaven that nobody can see him."

Still wondering, he approaches his mother: "Mom, can anybody ever really see God?"

"No, not really," his mother says gently. "God is spirit and he dwells in our hearts, but we can never really see him."

This answer satisfies him for the moment, but he still wonders.

A few days later his beloved old grandfather takes his grandson on a fishing trip. They have a great time together - it has been an ideal day. As the sun begins to set, the grandfather stops fishing and turns his full attention to the beauty unfolding before their eyes. On seeing the peace and contentment on his grandfather's face, the boy thinks for a moment and asks hesitatingly: "Grandpa, I - I wasn't going to ask anybody else, but I wonder if you can tell me something I've been wondering about for a long time. Can anybody ever really see God?"

The old man does not even turn his head. A long moment slips by before he finally answers. "Son," he responds quietly, "it's getting so I can't see anything else." [ix]

[i] Frank Lyman, "Friends come through for friends," Dynamic Preaching 16 (3): 29 (Seven Worlds Corporation, 310 Simmons Road, Knoxville TN 37922) July 2001. Fr. Gerard Fuller, o.m.i.

[ii] Lyman, pg. 32.

[iii] Mark G. Boyer, "Hearing and acting on God's word," Readings - 111, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (The Thomas More Association, 205 West Monroe St. — Sixth Floor, Chicago IL 60606-5097) July 2001.

[iv] "The gift is in your hand," Seventeenth Sunday of the Year, Connections, (MediaWorks, 7 Lantern Lane, Londonderry, N.H. 03053-3905) July 2001.

[v] R. Clint Hopkins, "Serving the word," Homily Service 34 (4): 59 (Homily Service, The Liturgical Conference 415 Michigan Ave. NE, Suite 65, Washington D.C. 20017-1518) July 2001.

[vi] "Staying in touch," Lectionaid 9 (3): 33 (LectionAid, Inc., P.O. Box 19229, Boulder, CO 80308-2229. J. Nichols Adams, publisher) July 2001.

[vii] Gerald Oosterven, "Pastoral implications," Lectionary Homiletics 12 (8): 32 (Lectionary Homilitecs, Inc., 13540 East Boundary Road, Building 2, Suite 105, Midlothian, VA 23112) July 2001.

[viii] "Staying in touch," pg. 33-4.

[ix] __Connections.

Fr. Jerry Fuller, o.m.i. P. O. Box 367 Gainesville MO 65655