DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Genesis 18,20-32; Colossians 2,12-14; Luke 11,1-13: Year 3, 2019)
(Genesis 18,20-32; Colossians 2,12-14; Luke 11,1-13: Year 3, 2019)
The account of the dialogue between Abraham and God (Genesis 18, 20-32) over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah is really a theological inquiry into the nature of divine justice. There is no question about the sinfulness of the cities. The underlying question that drives the exchange between Abraham and God is one of justice. The question as stated is: Should not the judge of all the world act with justice? The answer is obvious. Of course! However, the question as intended is: What is justice in a situation like this? The answer to this question is not so obvious. There is a tension here between communal guilt and innocence and individual guilt and innocence. If the city is guilty it should be punished. But what if there are innocent individuals in that city? Is it fair that they should suffer along with the guilty ones? The question can be looked at another way. In traditional societies, identity and significance are more communal than personal. More emphasis is given to the group than to the individual member. Within the context of this theory known as corporate personality, one can ask: If the guilt of some can result in the suffering of all, cannot the innocence of some hold back the hand that inflicts the suffering? Abraham demonstrates extraordinary deference toward the Lord. In customary Near Eastern style he prefaces each of his inquiries with adulation. However it is still he who boldly initiates the exchange that probes the nature of divine justice. Six times he questions God about the parameters of divine justice, and six times God appears to adjust them. He moves progressively from fifty to ten people whose innocence is strong enough to withstand the punishing arm of God, which is raised against the city. The account demonstrates the power of the righteous. Only a few can be salvific for many.
In the second reading, Colossians 2,12-14, in what appears to be baptismal instruction, Paul describes the effects of the triumph of the power of God in the lives of believers as manifested in the resurrection of Christ. He does this by relating Christ's burial in the grave of the earth with the Christian's burial in the waters of baptism. Joined to Christ in faith, through baptism they enter the grave, the realm of the dead, only to rise with Christ to a new life. Paul moves from the concept of actual physical death to that of spiritual death. This is the condition of those who, because of sin, are separated from God, the source of life. The baptised Christians have gone down into death with Christ and have been raised with him to new life. The new life into which they have been raised brings with it a new standard of living, a new ethical code. Since they have died and are living a new life, the legal claims of the past are no longer binding, claims that appear to have been more a burden than a guide. Furthermore, the debt owed because of the transgressions of the past is cancelled. The image Paul employs suggests this debt was originally set to writing but has now been expunged. Just as indictments of death were nailed to the cross of the criminal, so this notice of cancellation of debt is also nailed. Just as the cross was the instrument for carrying out the death sentence, so it is now the source of life.
The gospel pericope, Luke 11,1-13, a discourse on prayer can be divided into three separate but related segments: the Lord's Prayer (vv. 1,4); an example of persistence in prayer (vv. 5-8); the assurance of being heard (vv. 9-13). It was Jesus at his own prayer that prompted his disciples to ask for direction in their prayer, just as the disciples of other religious leaders had been taught to pray by them. The plural pronouns in the prayer denote its communal character. The prayer consists of an invocation, appeals for the glorification of God, and the petitions of the supplicants. The invocation Father suggests a relationship that is intimate and childlike. Furthermore, it came from Jesus, so it is evidence the prayer is intended for those who enjoy this relationship because of Jesus, for it was Jesus who called God Father and who here invites his disciples to do the same. Since the name of a person comprises the character of that person, to pray that God's name be made holy is to pray that God be given appropriate honour. The prayer for the coming of the reign of God is a prayer for eschatological fulfilment. There is a question about the meaning of the rare word that modifies bread (epiousion). Most commentators agree that daily best captures its intent. The verb form used in this petition denotes continuous giving. These features point to constant dependence on God rather than some form of eschatological satisfaction. The next plea includes an acknowledgment that forgiveness by God assumes the petition's forgiveness of others. The final petition prays that one not be overwhelmed by temptation. These petitions all point to the continuing need for God in the present struggles of life. The persistence with which one should pray is characterised by the story of the man who woke his sleeping friend. That friend was not upset because he was awakened, nor was he unwilling to share his bread with his friend. He was upset because he did not want to disturb his family. However, he finally gave in, because his insistent friend would not. What was not achieved because of friendship was accomplished because of persistence. The lessons to be learned about prayer are finally explicitly articulated. Like the man who was awakened from sleep, God is willing to give, but one must ask; God is willing to reveal, but one must seek; God is willing to open the door, but one must knock on it. God is willing to answer prayers, but one must pray. God's willingness to grant petitions is described through the use of a Jewish form of argument: from the lesser to the greater. If a human father gives good things rather than harmful things to his children, how much more will the Father in heaven give good things to those who ask for them, the greatest good being the Holy Spirit? This entire discourse encourages the disciples to persevere in prayer. 
The readings for this Sunday offer us an opportunity to reflect on the prayer of the disciple. They suggest some of the predispositions for praying; they reveal some of the content of Christian prayer; they offer us an idea of what can happen to us when we pray. Finally, Jesus himself gives us the Our Father, a prayer that contains within itself all of the characteristics of prayer that we will consider. As children we learned there are different kinds of prayer: praise, contrition, thanksgiving, and petition. All these different prayers recognise two fundamental realities: we are a dependent, needy people; our needs can really only be adequately met by our sovereign God. In the gospel Jesus instructs us to ask for what we need, to seek what we desire, to knock on the door behind which we hope to find our fulfilment. He assures us we will receive what we request, we will find what we seek, and the door will be opened to us. In other words, God is more than willing to give us what we need. However, for this to happen we must turn to God and humbly acknowledge our need. Our prayer is always directed toward God, as we see in the Our Father. Even if we pray to Mary or to one of the saints, we are still praying to God because these others only act as intermediaries for us before God. Therefore the first characteristic of prayer is that it is directed toward God. Regardless of whether it is an explicit prayer of praise or contrition or thanksgiving or petition, as prayer it acknowledges the majesty of God and is, therefore, a prayer of praise. In the Our Father, we praise God's name. While many of the psalms, and the Our Father as well, include mention of the petitioner's own needs, the two narratives read this Sunday describe prayer offered for someone else. Abraham asks for mercy for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the man in the gospel asks for bread for his friend. Generosity of heart is a second characteristic of prayer. The most obvious characteristic depicted in the readings for this Sunday is persistence. Neither Abraham nor the man in the gospel was deterred by any obstacle. They show it is not so much that we persist in prayer in order to change God's mind as it is that we persist in order to discover what God's mind might be. How would Abraham have known the number of righteous required to save a city if he had not gradually reduced the number? How would the man have known he was willing to risk his friendship with another in order to fulfil his obligation of hospitality? Persistence in prayer reveals to us the lengths to which we are willing to go for another. The salutariness of prayer is often found in the change it effects in us, not in God. While it is true our prayer may not change the situations for which we pray, it is also true that frequently we change in the praying. By persevering in genuine prayer we may come to acknowledge that all things are in God's hands and that we can rest content to leave them there, trusting the situation will be cared for as God sees fit. It seems trite to say God hears all prayer and sometime the answer is No! It is better to say God respects the freedom of people and will seldom intervene to change the way events unfold. Still, prayer can change the one who prays and also the one for whom the prayer is offered if only human need is recognised and divine solicitude is acknowledged. May God in the Eucharistic Celebration of this Sunday not only lead us to pray genuinely but also give us the Holy Spirit that will pray with us from the depth of our being. Happy Sunday ! +John I. Okoye
(graphics by Charlie.MBC)
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