Homily for July 19-20, 2008

17th Sunday
July 20, 2008

Our three readings today have a common theme. It is expressed in today’s psalm verse: “You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.”
This teaches us that there is much we do not understand about God and ourselves. And that we must approach these mysteries with humility – as “little ones.”

The first reading looks with wonderment at the mystery of the God’s mercy. It is beyond our ability to comprehend.
It says that mercy is the best expression of God might. We don’t connect mercy with might. The reading says “Your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.”

As much as anything, this reading invites us to wonder at God’s mighty mercy. The psalm follows up with a song of praise to God’s infinite mercy.
“You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.”
There’s nothing we need more than mercy. We are invited to call upon God’s mercy.

Let’s take a look at the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans (chap 8: 26-27). It says: “We do not know how to pray as we ought.”
In the light of the first reading and the psalm, above all we should pray for God’s mercy.

But all too often we pray instead for what we don’t need. The ancients had a saying: “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.”
A few years ago there was a great interest in a book titled: The Prayer of Jabez. It sold millions of copies and generated a spirituality of prosperity.

The author, Bruce Wilkerson, used an obscure one-sentence Old Testament prayer by a certain Jabez asking God to “enlarge my territory,” as the basis for praying for prosperity.
The author of the book, an evangelical writer, says, “God wants you to ask for more blessing, more territory and more power.” And “God holds back nothing from those who long for these things.”
But in today’s second reading, St. Paul says, “we do not know how to pray as we ought.”
The perfect prayer taught us by Jesus is “not my will, but thy will be done.”

To help us to pray as we ought, Jesus sends us his Spirit to pray within us. The Spirit, called in Paul’s letter “the one who searches hearts,” “comes to the aid of our weakness.”

Another story about prayer prompted by the Spirit comes from Maryknoll Magazine. It is told by a Maryknoll missioner, named Anna Boland, who recalls an incident that impressed her.
She writes: “Years ago when I worked as a Sister/doctor in Korea, 90 percent of babies infected with neonatal tetanus (lockjaw) subsequently died. But one 4-day-old baby boy whom I treated made a complete recovery.
“Boarding a train years later, I met a woman who in the course of conversation recognized me as the doctor who had helped her baby recover from lockjaw. She said, ‘He is now 18 years old and a senior in high school.” Then she added, ‘Even though I don’t know your God, I have prayed for you every day.”

The “one who searches hearts” helped this grateful woman to pray from her heart.
We never pray alone. The Spirit of God prays within us.

A little earlier in Paul’s letter he mentions that the Spirit within us enables us to pray to God saying, “Abba,” that is “Father” or more exactly translated, “Daddy.”
It is as beloved children that we pray best.
“You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.” It is the prayers of such little ones that God cannot resist.