Never Stop Praying: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Sermon and Christian Act In The Word
Theme: Never stop praying! Persistence in Prayer? God is present amidst calamities! Ask, seek and knock, the Lord will give!
Point of Reflection: Do I pray? And what do I pray? Never give up in prayer! God’s time is the best! Patience is a key in God’s love.
First Reading: Genesis 18:20–32
Psalm: Psalm 138:1–3, 6–8
Second Reading: Colossians 2:12–14
Gospel: Luke 11:1–13
Sermon (Reflection): The Gospel message of today is all about persistence in prayer and how we should pray as Christians. Notably, the Gospel passage features three distinct parts joined by the common theme of prayer. The first part contains the famous prayer of Jesus which he taught his disciples as a pattern for all prayer. This pattern is reflected in the five petitions that this prayer consists of. The first two arise out of the need for God’s presence and intervention in this godless world. The petition that God’s name be “hallowed” that is “made holy”, requests the manifestation of God’s presence and holiness before a world that does not know or rejects God. Combined with the second petition for the coming of God’s kingdom, this first part of the prayer expresses the longing of believers for God’s rule to take over the world and for the end to the chaos and wickedness that envelops it at the present.
The third petition is a request for daily bread. This is the plea of those experiencing economic insecurity and who rely on God for their daily provision of food. The fourth petition pleads for the forgiveness of sins but makes it conditional on mutual forgiveness. Praying with these words, those who ask for God’s forgiveness oblige themselves to forgive others.
The final petition requests God’s protection from the trials and temptations that may lead to the loss of faith. The proper translation of this petition should read, “do not allow us to enter into temptation”. This petition acknowledges that believers are exposed to temptations to sin and to apostasy. Therefore, this is a plea to God to save believers from such situations where their faith would be challenged beyond measure. This is a prayer for the preservation of faith, which is exposed to the challenges and trials brought by the evil and wickedness operating in this world.
The second and third parts of the Gospel passage highlight the need for perseverance in prayer. In the story of a reluctant friend, the petitioner receives the bread he requested because his persistence overcame obstacles that the circumstances posed. Then, the threefold exhortation to ask, seek and knock teaches that the prayers must first be made before they are answered. God responds to the petitioners who are determined and know what to ask for. However, the supreme gift of God that petitioners ought to seek is the Holy Spirit, who alone is God’s greatest gift. Through the Holy Spirit, God’s grace and mercy come to the believers, in response to their prayers, in all the challenging circumstances of life.
Another quite interesting aspect to learn from the readings of today is that God’s grace operates even in the midst of the wickedness and unrighteousness that affects the world and believers. God was willing to hold off his judgment over the wicked cities because of even a few righteous who lived there.
The first Scriptural reading (Cf.Genesis 18:20–32) continues the story of the encounter between Abraham and God from the last Sunday. However, the conversation now turns to a different topic. The inhabitants of the nearby cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, engaged in practices that violated all standards of morality and justice. God decided to act against these sinful cities and made his intentions known to Abraham (Cf. Genesis 18:19). God’s decision created a great dilemma for Abraham. Abraham knew that there were at least a few individuals in those cities who lived righteously. His nephew, Lot, was among them. If the cities were destroyed and the righteous Lot with them, it would put God’s justice into question. But if the wicked are left to thrive and the guilty escape punishment, then God’s justice would likewise be challenged. The core of the problem here is whether righteousness can counterbalance wickedness, and if so, to what degree. Thus, Abraham begins his dialogue with the Lord, inquiring about the number of the righteous needed to counterbalance the wicked majority. His logic is that if the guilt of the wicked can affect the righteous, then perhaps the innocence of the righteous can save the wicked.
He begins with the high number of fifty, to which God responds that fifty righteous would be enough to spare the city. The same answer is given to five more inquiries as Lot eventually brings the number down to ten. In the Israelite tradition, ten is the minimum number of members needed to constitute a community. Thus, Abraham’s bargaining with God reveals that God is willing to forego punishment if even the smallest community of the righteous can be found among the large population of the wicked. God’s grace and forgiveness are not dependent on numbers or limited by wickedness.
Grace operates wherever righteousness is present even in the smallest measure. It is a call to us Christians to be righteous no matter what circumstances we encounter in our daily Christian living.
The second reading(Cf. Colossians 2:12–14) describes the triumph of God over the sinfulness and wickedness of the Colossian Christians. Without any reservations, Paul describes the Colossians before their conversion as “dead” and “uncircumcised”. These are very unflattering terms, pointing to lives of ignorance and moral depravity. Without the knowledge of God and the ethical guidance of his commandments, they were alienated from God with no hope of redemption. However, God intervened in their lives through Christ. First, because of the apostolic proclamation of Paul, they were “buried with Christ” in baptism. Burial symbolically refers to the immersion in the waters of baptism and the resulting dying to the old life. The new life comes as rising from the dead through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus died a physical death on the cross so that the Colossians could die with him a symbolic death to a life of sin and unbelief. Jesus was then raised from the dead so that the Colossians could rise to a renewed spiritual life of righteousness and faith. The new life comes to them through identification with Christ, which is ritually confirmed in baptism.
Because of baptism and faith, the Colossians had their sins and trespasses forgiven; thus, their “debt” has been “nailed to the cross”. This beautiful symbolic statement means that their transgressions and ignorance remained nailed to the symbol of death – the cross – while they themselves were removed from the cross and rose to a new life together with Christ. The key in this reading is the emphasis on God’s initiative and his power behind this process. God brought these former Gentiles to faith in Christ, while they were still dead in their trespass. God’s intervention preceded their conversion. The Colossians’ story proves that God’s mercy and salvific initiative does not cease, even amid human unrighteousness.
Christian Act in Word of God “Grace is present amidst problems! Never stop praying”
There is a lot of evil in this world. However, as followers of Christ, ours is not to condemn the world, in part or whole, but rather to raise our voices in persistent prayer in times of evil. Prayer draws grace first and foremost into our own hearts and overflows into the world we live in. The effect of prayer can be likened to a downpour of rain in a dry forest caught up in fire.
In any discourse about the problem of evil, it is theologically accurate to start with the premise that God loves the world. Although he transcends creation, God is equally immanent in the work of his hands. From the “spiritual bargain” that Abraham had with God, one can infer that righteousness attracts grace and causes justice to be tempered with mercy. God’s preparedness to spare a whole nation, if righteousness could be found even in a small measure, reveals his unwillingness to destroy anything he has created. In this regard, God can be likened to a teacher who, although he is displeased with the poor performance of a class, is appeased by the good performance of one or two students in the class. This is even more expressive in the salvific act of Christ. Paul tells the Church in Colossae, “And when you were dead in trespasses…God made you alive together with him…” The righteousness of Christ, which has brought salvation to humanity, is highlighted.
The presence of a community of faith in an environment where wickedness prevails can be likened to light in darkness or an oasis in the desert. Such a community brings hope where life is threatened. “When strong trees come together, they break the force of a destructive wind.” A community of faith is a spiritual windbreaker. Its very presence saves multitudes from perdition.
When things go wrong, a prayerful response can salvage the situation. May we not give up in prayer, but rather, perseveringly ask, search and knock. God’s grace will be provided in times of calamities and problems. Never stop praying.
Action: I will never stop praying.
Prayer: Eternal Father, through your son Jesus Christ, you have taught us how to pray and to be persistent in prayer. As your children, help us to open our hearts to pray always amidst the calamities of our daily struggles. May the grace of your Son Jesus Christ, quench the naked flames of evil in every human heart, and send us your Holy Spirit to be with us always, Amen
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