During a summer parish assignment, in my former life as a seminarian, I recall a conversation about prayer that I had with the housekeeper/cook of the parish. That was in the days when the priest enjoyed such a luxury as a live in housekeeper.
The conversation I had about prayer, in which the woman was very open about sharing her joy and struggle, ended with a well worn phrase that she felt summed up her prayer life: “If you’re too busy to pray, you’re too busy.” Such pragmatic wisdom reveals a very important priority. She did not view prayer as incidental to her life but an integral part. In all the other “stuff” we find ourselves responsible for, it should never be so much that we never find time to pray – maybe we’re too busy. Prayer is not just one more thing I have to do but an opportunity for entering into a personal relationship with God.
This Sunday, our first reading from Genesis 18: 20-32, a continuation of last Sunday, presents an amazing exercise in boldness. Abraham, who stands before the legendary corrupt cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, with God before him, bargains on behalf of the “innocent” people of Sodom – if God will find any there. “Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?” asks Abraham.
Abraham is well aware that God has the power to both destroy and to build up. But, he is also aware that God has claimed to be merciful and just so Abraham questions God which displays a certain “chutzpah” to question God’s intent.
God isn’t sure what he will do before he encounters Abraham but this is a moment in which Abraham puts God to the test: How merciful and just are you really? Will you spare the entire city on behalf of the innocent, no matter how few are found there, or must the innocent suffer because of the guilty?
Here we are faced with the perennial problem – Must the good suffer along with and because of the wicked? Are we collectively responsible for our actions, which affect the whole of which we are a part, or does individual virtue and good make a difference in the way God deals with sin as he looks upon humanity.
So, Abraham petitions, prays, to God on behalf of the innocent. He prays not just with one request but continues to appeal to God, in a most respectful but persistent manner, as Abraham wonders just how far God is willing to go. How much of Abraham’s prayer will God answer?.
Suppose there were “fifty innocent people . . . five less than fifty . . . What if there are forty there . . . What if only thirty . . . no more than twenty . . . at least ten there . . .?” God’s consistent response to Abraham’s plea was: “I will not destroy it, for the sake of the 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, or 10.” The presumption would be – would God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah even if only one innocent person were found there? Can the sacrifice of only one make a difference on behalf of the guilty? Think of our great Saints and of the one man, Jesus Christ, whose death has brought salvation to all. The answer is clearly – “Yes.” Abraham’s powerful, persistent prayer is a lesson for us. Even though things did not go well for the two cities, God does spare Lot and his family – poor Lot’s wife, however. Abraham was busy about his concerns on behalf of the innocents of Sodom and brought these concerns in prayer to God.
The Gospel reading from Luke11: 1-13 is a lesson in persistent prayer. It was known that disciples of John the Baptist were being instructed by him in the ways of repentance. The Apostles notice that Jesus is a man of prayer so after “Jesus was praying in a certain place,” they ask him, “teach us to pray . . .” Jesus’ answer reflects somewhat the relationship between God and Abraham: God seeks to communicate and relate to us, though not as an equal, but is not distant or untouchable; God is here and now present to us, like a loving Father who cares for his children’s needs and listens to their requests.
So, we have what has become the ultimate prayer of Christian unity, the “Our Father” or the “Lord’s prayer” as we say. The words vary somewhat according to the translation in both Luke and Matthew but the essence of the prayer is the same:
God is personal, like a “Father” to us. God is the essence of holiness so we must learn to imitate this loving parent by holy lives ourselves. (Like Father, like son/daughter). This Father God cares about even the most mundane needs of our lives – our “daily bread.”
That God offers us a “kingdom” in which to live – values and morals that may be in conflict with the prevailing world at times but are the only true solution to bitterness and hatred in the world – forgiveness, reconciliation, and love through lives of self-sacrifice for the other.
But, there is another kingdom that we battle against – the kingdom of evil and its influence over our personal lives and world events. Many sources of evil exist but in the end, as citizens of God’s kingdom, which we became through our baptism, we need the strength to resist evil, the “evil one,” and to follow the ways Christ has shown us.
So, Jesus teaches his Apostles and us about the essence of a prayer life – relationship with God which translates into our lives with one another; as God has forgiven us, so must we forgive each other. This truth is learned through persistent prayer and petition: “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find . . .”
Prayer is petition – Abraham with God; Jesus – “ask and you shall receive”
Prayer is humility – Abraham prays: “See how I am presuming to speak . . . though I am but dust and ashes . . .”
Prayer is a relationship of communication – Abraham walks with God; Jesus: “When you pray say, Father . . .”
Prayer is persistence – “Ask . . . seek . . . knock . . .”
Prayer is essentially a form of communication as we ask, seek, and knock on God’s “door” for a portion of the Holy Spirit that we may know how to pray. But, like any good parent, God will not spoil us - he will love us into life and show us his will as the better way to live.
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