29th Sunday of the Year C 2016

May the intimate relationship between God and the Christian, which is the purpose of prayer, be yours in its fullness this Sunday and all through your life! Happy Sunday! +John I.Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH 
(Exodus 17, 8-13; 2 Tim 3, 14-4, 2; Luke 18, 1-8: 29th Sunday of the Year C 2016)

The gospel reading focuses on the theme of prayer and highlights the aspect of perseverance in prayer. The other readings of this Sunday take up other aspects of prayer. To effectively bring home the teaching of the necessity of persistent prayer, Jesus gave a parable of an unjust judge and a widow.  The judge is described as fearing neither God nor human beings. The fear of God is the quintessential characteristic of the pious person. By his own admission, the judge is devoid of such devotion. This is a way of saying that he does not hold in regard the pivotal commandments of love of God and neighbor . He was unjust not because he was an active adversary against another but because he failed to ensure that justice was served in the lives of all. This is an extraordinary serous charge against a judge, whose very function is to secure justice for all, especially for the most vulnerable of society. Sins of omission can be as devastating as sins of commission. The woman, on the other hand, was a widow, a member of one of the most oppressed classes in Israel. It would seems that she is not only widowed but also alone in the world, for it would have been customary for a male member of her family to appear before the judge to plead her cause. Though vulnerable, this woman was bold. She was already the victim of injustice, but she appears here, before the judge, pressing him for a hearing. As indifferent as the judge seems to be towards her case, so is she persistent in her demands of him. He will not give in; she will not give up. How long this standoff lasted we are not told, but it was long enough to wear down the judge. He finally relents. At this point in his narrative instruction, Jesus introduces an a fortiori argument: If the judge who was unjust  will finally vindicate those who have been mistreated, how much more will God vindicate those who are the chosen ones.            We, Christians, the disciples of Jesus today, are admonished to persevere in prayer. Perseverance does not mean multiplying our words (verbosity) or our requests, but rather the constancy and the patience of the one who confides hopes and knows how to wait for God. Perseverance manifests also itself in the attitude of dependency and abandoning oneself in God. Perseverance also means having confidence in God, be it the time he listens to our prayer or the time it seems he does not. Perseverance can also mean the interior assurance and conviction that our prayer would be answered. The attitude of perseverance can be compared to the unshakable assurance of the child on the benevolence  and good disposition towards him/her on the part of his parents and also the conviction a friend has in the faithfulness of his/her  friend. The disciples of Jesus are admonished to be persistent in prayer, day and night regardless of how closed God might seem to their pleas. Jesus parable shows them that in God’s regard, it is not a question of disinterest but of timing. God will answer in His own time.

In the parable, the woman’s persistence, finally, opened the door of the judge. This story only captures one facet of prayer, namely: God’s opens to us. In reality, prayer develops a mutual openness: God is open to our desire for Him and we are open to God’s desire for us. In the gospel account it was the woman who was persistent; in reality it is God who prevails on us to open ourselves. The gospel only hints at this particular aspect of prayer. It states that the Son of Man will come seeking faith.

 There is an intimate connection between faith and prayer. Even one theological axiom holds: Lex credendi, lex orandi (The Law of belief is seen in the law of prayer). Prayer, in fact, should be an expression of faith, otherwise it cannot be a true prayer. If one does not believe in God, he cannot pray to God. If one does not believe in the goodness and benevolence of God he cannot pray in an adequate manner. Faith is an essential basis for the correct attitude in prayer. 

 We hinted above that there are others aspects of prayer that are highlighted by the other readings of today. One can see the communal aspect of prayer in the first reading. The Israelites would not have been able to prevail on the Amelekites without the prayerful action of Moses, but Moses would not have been able to persevere is his action of entreaty had not Aaron and Hur supported him. This teaches us that we should find ways of praying for and with our community. After all, God brought us salvation through Christ as a community, even though sometimes we benefit from it individually. Charity begins at home. May we begin this communal dimension of prayer by starting afresh, from this Sunday, the family communal prayer. To develop a communal sense of prayer may be one of the most challenging aspects of our discipleship for many of us today, but we have to develop it.

Paul admonishes Timothy in the second reading to keep preaching the gospel, to keep spreading the good news, to allow the Scriptures to continue to be source of wisdom for himself and through him for all the people who hear him. To have this kind of facility with Scriptures requires that one enter into deep meaning of the Scriptures and make them the basis of his /her  prayers. To be able to do this one will have to engage oneself with the lectio divine; this is prayerful, reflective reading of the Scriptures. This practice, or spiritual discipline gives us access to God and it also gives God access to us. It moves us out of our penchant towards isolated devotion into ministerial commitment. It gives us the courage and the gentleness to teach, refute, and correct. When our ministerial action flows from prayer, it also flows from and strengthens right relationship with God, with the society and with the Christian community. When this becomes a reality, the son of man will indeed find faith on earth. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

graphics  by  chukwubike