20181011
THE PURPOSE OF
PETITIONARY PRAYERS
11 OCTOBER,
2018, Thursday, 27th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Galatians 3:1-5 ©
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You received the Spirit because you
believed what was preached
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Are you people in Galatia mad? Has someone
put a spell on you, in spite of the plain explanation you have had of the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ? Let me ask you one question: was it because you
practised the Law that you received the Spirit, or because you believed what
was preached to you? Are you foolish enough to end in outward observances what
you began in the Spirit? Have all the favours you received been wasted? And if
this were so, they would most certainly have been wasted. Does God give you the
Spirit so freely and work miracles among you because you practise Law, or
because you believed what was preached to you?
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Responsorial Psalm
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Luke 1:69-75 ©
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Blessed be the Lord, the
God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
in the house of David his
servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets
from of old.
Blessed be the Lord, the
God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,
from the hands of all who hate
us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant
remembered.
Blessed be the Lord, the
God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He swore to Abraham our father
to grant us that free from
fear,
and saved from the hands of
our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in
his presence.
Blessed be the Lord, the
God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says
the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except
through me.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Ac16:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 11:5-13 ©
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Ask, and it will be given to you
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘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!’
THE PURPOSE OF PETITIONARY PRAYERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ GAL 3:1-5; LK 11:5-13 ]
“For whoever asks, receives; whoever
seeks, finds, whoever knocks, is admitted.” Such encouraging and hopeful
words from Jesus indeed! But are these promises of Jesus really true to
life? Can we really believe that if we ask, seek and find
persistently enough, we will surely get what we want in life? The
reverse seems to be more true because there are many instances in life when the
more we ask, the more we do not get; the more we seek, the further away we get;
and the more we knock, the more we are ignored. This experience is
applicable both in our relationships with people, the world and even with God
Himself. So how can Jesus say that we will surely get what we want if we
tried hard enough?
As if this is not enough, Jesus even
asks us to do something else. He asks us to pray to
the heavenly Father so that He will give us the Holy Spirit. If we
read this text as a pre-resurrection text, then we know that the Holy Spirit
cannot yet be given until after the death and resurrection of Jesus. So
how could Jesus ask His disciples to pray for the Holy Spirit? However,
if we read this text as a post-resurrection interpretation, then the Holy
Spirit is given to all in unknown ways, but in a Christian way to those who are
baptized. If the Spirit has already been given to us, how then can we
still ask God for the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit is already dwelling
in our hearts, how can we ask the Spirit to be more present in our lives?
Indeed, the Spirit has never left us since. So what does Jesus
mean when He asks us to pray for the Holy Spirit?
These conundrums are well synthesized in
the first reading by Paul. He was flabbergasted at the so-called madness
of the Galatians. For Paul, it was unbelievable that the cross had not
taught them anything. They had forgotten that it was not through their
efforts in observing the Old Testament laws that they received the Spirit;
rather, it was their faith in Christ, the Good News, that God lavished the
Spirit on them. Yes, in matters of faith and love, they are pure
gifts from God. They cannot be attained simply by human persistence or
effort. Efforts at most can change the external behaviour or conduct
of a person, but they cannot change the center. Efforts will make us
ambitious, egoistic and self-reliant. Even before we ask for anything,
God has already given to us because He knows what we need. “And when you pray,
do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because
of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need
before you ask him.” (Mt 6:7-8)
If that is the case, does it mean
therefore that we should give up praying, especially the prayer of
petition? Of course not! Why? What is the value of
the prayer of petition then? Firstly, the prayer
of petition is but a prayer of discernment. The truth is, we become
what we pray. What we pray for tells us about ourselves, who we are, our
values and desires in life. For those who are spiritually weak, their
prayers consist mainly of material and temporal favours. Most prayers
tend to be focused on the needs of the individual. Those of us who
have grown in spiritual maturity tend to be more inclusive in their prayers,
embracing others and even those whom they do not know. Their prayers go
beyond temporal needs to spiritual favours, especially for peace, love, unity
etc. Indeed, what we pray is what we will become. For this reason we must
be extremely careful about how and what we pray for.
Thus, in order to pray rightly, we need to
discern well. The prayer of petition therefore is the way in
which and by which we vocalize our desires. By verbalizing our
desires, we crystallize our aspirations and wants. In so doing, we can
therefore more objectively distinguish what we really need, that is, those
things that are really good for us and what we want, which may be to our
detriment. In other words, we will not mistake the scorpion for an egg, a
snake for a fish or the stone for the bread. Indeed, a snake looks like a
fish or an eel and bread can look like stone. Hence, the need for proper
discernment, or else we can easily be deceived by the apparent good of the
things we ask. So the prayer of petition is necessary to help us realize
that sometimes what we ask for is destructive for us. Because of
ignorance, we do not even know what we should be asking. So that is the
first value of the prayer of petition.
The second purpose of
the prayer of petition is that it is but a prayer of self-realization. Now, if Jesus encourages us to ask,
it is because asking, seeking and finding would be the necessary ways by which
we can come to know the foolishness of asking, seeking and finding those things
that are detrimental to our happiness and total well-being. Some of us
ask for a promotion in our career or for more money, and we wonder why God does
not answer our prayers. Truth be told, God knows better than us because
He cares for us more than just supplying our needs. What good is it to get
promoted in our job at the expense of losing our faith, spiritual life and even
the love of the family or even our health? We are so easily tempted by
the world that for the sake of success and money we leave no time for God, our
spiritual life and our loved ones. The issue in question is whether we
prefer mammon or God?
It is the pedagogy of
God to teach us that all that is necessary for us have already been given to
us. But we will never
be convinced of this until we are driven to the edge of our searching and
asking; and recognizing the futility of it we stop asking and searching.
If only we can be contented with what we have and when the opportunity presents
itself, we might have less complications in life than insisting on acquiring
what is not ours. The paradox of life is that the moment we stop
desiring, this is when God takes over. God knows what to give us and what
is best for us. The moment we stop asking and searching, we return home, to
ourselves. In returning to ourselves, we will realize that we can be
happy just simply being ourselves because the Holy Spirit already lives in
us. That is to say, we become who we really are. Thus, we must
continue to ask, seek and find everyday so that we might be kept aware of the
fact that the Holy Spirit is living in us already. The prayer of petition
is necessary so that we can remind ourselves that even before we ask for
anything, the heavenly Father already knows what we need; and surely we can
believe that He will give us only good things for our happiness.
But He does not only give us things. He has given His personal self to us in
the Holy Spirit. And it is this Holy Spirit in us that will ensure that
whatever we want in life really brings us true, and not simply apparent, happiness.
This assurance of the full awareness of God’s Spirit in us will inevitably fill
us with deep joy. With the Holy Spirit, we will experience love,
joy and peace. In the final analysis, more than just pleasure and luxury,
what we need most is to share in the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Money and
pleasure cannot bring us true joy and love.
And thus, this becomes the third
reason for the prayer of petition; that it might ultimately end up
as a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. A person can only be
filled with the spirit of praise and thanksgiving when he stops asking.
And he stops asking only because he has become aware that he is complete; that
he does not need anything else to be happy; that his happiness is ultimately to
be one in Spirit with God. In other words, when we desire what God wants
for us, we will always be happy, regardless of the situation we are in.
Conversely, people are unhappy only because they are never contented with what
they have and who they are. Thus, they crave for this and that; they want
to become this and that; they want to go here and there. A discontented
man is an unhappy man. He cannot find peace and happiness. Yes,
only a man filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for what he already has can
be filled with joy. This joy comes about because he is totally free; he
is totally detached and he is totally consecrated to God. True and total
freedom removes all fear and therefore brings the joy that only the Spirit of
God can give.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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