Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 28, 2013
‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.’
The Lord said, ‘How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sin! I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me. I am determined to know.’
The men left there and went to Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Approaching him he said, ‘Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner? Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really overwhelm them, will you not spare the place for the fifty just men in it? Do not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge of the whole earth not administer justice?’ the Lord replied, ‘If at Sodom I find fifty just men in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them.’
Abraham replied, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and ashes. But perhaps the fifty just men lack five: will you destroy the whole city for five?’ ‘No,’ he replied ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five just men there.’ Again Abraham said to him, ‘Perhaps there will only be forty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the forty.’
Abraham said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps there will only be thirty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘if I find thirty there.’ He said, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there will only be twenty there.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the twenty.’ He said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more: perhaps there will only be ten.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the ten.’
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 137:1-3,6-8
Second Reading: Colossians 2:12-14
You have been buried with Christ, when you were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead, because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins.
He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.
Gospel: Luke 11:1-13
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:
“Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.”’
He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants.
‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Reflection
By Mark Rodney Vertido
For the last three Sundays, the Gospel readings have a common theme and that is responding to the Word of God. On the first Sunday, we talked about accepting the calling of God and how are those He sent are being accepted by the world we live in. On the second Sunday, we tried to reflect on God’s love following His commandments by accepting our neighbors and being more receptive to the things they say. Then last Sunday, we were reminded to spend time with our King first before we help in building the Kingdom. This Sunday, we will focus once more in receiving God through prayer.
As we try to make every prayer appropriate and pleasing to God, we look at the Lord’s prayer as the most perfect prayer since it was Jesus Himself who taught us this. Indeed, it is a very beautiful prayer that allows us to praise God, to be contrite of heart, to be thankful of the things we have, and to recognize that we need His abundant blessings.
What do we know about praying? Do we really know how to pray? What is your prayer? I would still argue that many of us do not really know how to pray and give value to praying. Good thing the disciples of Jesus asked Him to teach them how to pray, the reason why we now have a guide on how to do this.
As a child, I always watched the Family Rosary Crusade on television. And one of the slogans of this show was “Prayer is our Hotline to God.” We are communicating to God when we pray.
My spiritual journey was revived during my younger years because of praying the rosary daily and joining the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the highest form of prayer. I have also used the Breviary or pray the Psalms which I still do today. However, there was a time when I felt dryness in my spirit. I cannot feel God in my life any more even when I am fulfilling my duties to Him. It bothered me a lot that it affected my prayer life. It was hard, similar to what Saint Teresa of Avila or Blessed Teresa of Calcutta had experienced for years. Am I really doing God’s will? That was the question in my head. Weeks and months passed and it was still hard for me to pray.
I tried to stay silent. It was too comforting at that time that it feels like I have regained my prayer life. Then a Carmelite nun introduced me to what we call as “contemplative prayer”. I realized that I was not doing my part well when communicating with God through prayer. I had forgotten to listen. My prayers become a one-way communication where I wanted to do all the talking. I did not pause to listen to God’s responses to my prayer. With this realization, I started an inward journey to my very core where God dwells. God showed me His plans and I am already doing it.
Saint Augustine once said, “Our hearts are restless until it rests in You!” For me, it means that our restlessness is an effect of our self-centeredness. We should seek God by having Him in the center of our life. It is good to be persistent in praying like what the Gospel is saying because God wants us to be consistent and persevering. We need to pause and listen to what God wants us to do. He is inviting us to a more intimate relationship with Him.
Before going to heaven, Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell forever in us. The Holy Spirit guides us when we pray. He is our voice within when we pray. Let us always call on the Holy Spirit when we communicate with God.
Prayer
Our Father in heaven, please help us to communicate well with You. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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