Seventeenth Sunday of ORDINARY, Cycle C

First: Gn 18:20-21.23-32; Second: Col 2:12-14; Gospel: Lk 11:1-13

THEME of the READINGS

This Sunday’s liturgical texts teach us different ways to pray. In the first reading, Abraham appears as a model of intercessory prayer for the inhabitants of Sodom. In the Gospel, with the Lord’s Prayer Jesus Christ teaches us two ways of praying: the prayer of desires in the first part, and the prayer of supplication in the second. The text of the Letter to the Colossians does not deal with prayer directly, but we could say it provides the basis for all Christian prayers, especially for liturgical prayer, which is the mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Or perhaps we could speak of the prayer that becomes life, the giving of one’s self out of love.

DOCTrinal MESSAGE

The prayer of intercession. To intercede is to be united with Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and man, and to participate in some way in his salvific mediation. Indeed, in the intercession the one who prays does not seek his own interest but that of others, even that of those who do him evil. Normally, one intercedes for someone who is in need, in danger or in a difficult situation. This is what Abraham does in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, which are about to be destroyed by their own evil. Abraham’s intercession reflects a daring and bold attitude before God, but at the same time it is also a prayer of extreme humility. "It is presumptuous of me to speak to the Lord, I who am dust and ashes: Suppose the fifty upright were five short? Would you destroy the whole city because of five?" The prayer of intercession pleases God, because it is the prayer of a heart in accordance with the mercy of God himself. However, the divine effectiveness obtained by the intercessor may either be accepted or rejected by the person for whom he intercedes. Before Abraham’s intercession, God intercedes and saves Lot and his daughters, but Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed by fire.

The prayer of desire. The essence of love is such that we think about the person we love first of all. This is why, in the Lord’s Prayer, the heart of the believer raises its burning desire to God. It is the child’s eagerness to give glory to the Father, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. What more can a Christian want in this world? To this question, the Gospel replies: for God’s name to be sanctified, for his Kingdom to come. The Christian deeply wants God to be recognized as holy, as totally different form the world, as the One who is completely Other, as the Transcendent who sustains our freedom and encourages our hunger for transcendence. The Christian longs for the Kingdom of God to be established on earth, the Kingdom of the Messiah who opens his doors to all peoples and nations. Are these the desires of Christians? They are a summary of their desires. This is why, in order for all the other good Christian desires to be such, they will have to be related to one of these two. A prayer of desire, at the margin of God and his Kingdom, cannot be Christian.

The prayer of supplication or petition. In the second part of the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to fulfill the basic needs of human existence. We make those petitions not on an individual basis, but as a community. It is the Church in me and with me that asks God for our daily bread, for forgiveness from sins, for strength before temptation for all Christians, for all human beings. These are petitions that are addressed to God as the Father, and are thus made with total confidence and with the certainty that he will listen to us. However, they are also bold petitions, for we ask for things that are not at all easy, especially if we consider the mystery of God’s and of man’s freedom. They are petitions that concern our life: they ask that our lives be nourished, healed of sin, and made victorious in the struggle of good over evil (CCC 2857).

The prayer of life given for love. Paradoxi-cally, our prayer is also a response, as the Catechism tells us beautifully. A response to the plea of the living God: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water! Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God" (CCC 2561). This is the prayer of life, of the works of faith and of love, daily works mysteriously united with Jesus Christ. Because of our human wretchedness, weakness and limitations, prayer often goes one way in us, and life another. In Jesus prayer is life and life is prayer. It was thus that he could erase the debt held against us and nail it to the cross, forgiving us for all of our sins. Jesus Christ prayed and died for our sins, and with his prayer and death he gave us life.

PASTORal SUGGESTIONS

Tell me how you pray and I’ll tell you who you are. There are people who think that the value and identity of a human being are gauged on the basis of his bank account, his social standing, his power over others, his knowledge, his reputation… It is more correct to say that the person is what he prays; he is worth what he prays. Do you pray? Do you really pray, with all your soul? Do you pray a lot, often? Do you pray with a prayer of desire, do you sincerely seek God in your prayer? Do you pray in a disinterested way, for those who need God, his mercy and his love? Do you pray with confidence, surrendering to the power and wisdom of God, who knows what is best for human beings? Do you pray with a heart in love with the Church, open to all? Do you pray, like Jesus Christ, with your life sacrificed for the salvation of men and women? If you pray, and you pray this way, you are a true Christian. If you don’t pray, or if your prayer does not have these qualities, your Christian identity card has been badly damaged. For all such reasons we must remember that the family, school and parish should be primarily schools of prayer. Do we forget to teach children how to pray?

The pleasure of prayer. Prayer cannot be a whim, something that depends on whether or not we feel like it. However, it should not be a torment either; it should not be something that we do against our will because the Church establishes that we should or because of a family custom. Prayer must be something that we enjoy, like all good things. We enjoy talking to a friend, but is there a better friend than God? We enjoy learning things, but is there a better teacher than God himself? We like to feel wanted and loved, but is there anyone who wants and loves us more than the Lord our God? Since this pleasure is not something perceptible, it may be a bit more difficult for us. Since it is a spiritual pleasure, it is a pleasure that only the Holy Spirit can give us. Therefore, rather than making an effort to enjoy prayer, we should make an effort to ask the Holy Spirit to grant us the pleasure of prayer. He who knows the inner core of each person pours this pleasure for prayer into every heart. Do you enjoy praying in the secret garden of your heart, where you are alone with God? Do you like community prayer, for example the rosary in the family or in Church, and especially Holy Mass, the supreme prayer of the Church to the Father through Jesus Christ? If you have not experienced it yet, discover the pleasure of prayer, and ask the Lord to grant it to all Christians. The pleasure of prayer is a richness for every Christian and for the whole Church.

Source: http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2004-05/21-13/CICLOC.html by P. ANTONIO IZQUIERDO L.C. (1948-2013)

[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].