HOMILY FOR TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR C

Let’s be frank: Prayer is not always easy. We know the value of prayer and we want to pray, but nonetheless prayer is a struggle for most people, at least at some stage of their lives. Anyone who has ever tried to pray has experienced difficulties and disillusionment. It takes discipline and application, and we learn to pray by praying. You might have heard the saying, “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing badly” meaning that you don’t have to do it perfectly. It is the same with prayer. We need to just take the time, we need to persevere and not lose heart.

Prayer is the language of our friendship with God. St Teresa of Avila, who is known as the Doctor or Teacher of Prayer, said: “Prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.”

It should worry us that the Scriptures are full of instructions to pray, and the Church frequently teaches about the importance of prayer, but we have not given the same attention to teaching people how to pray. We tend to assume that everyone just knows how to pray. So, what is prayer all about and how do we pray? That’s where the quote from St Teresa of Avila is helpful. Prayer is more about relationship with God than keeping a set of rules or saying the right thing. Prayer is about knowing who God is and that he is God for us.

At the basis of any prayer is a conscious and intentional act of faith that we are loved by God and that he delights in hearing from us. Whatever is important to us, no matter how small in the greater scheme of things, is important to God because we are important to God. This means that anyone can pray. We don’t need any special qualifications or training. We can simply put ourselves in the presence of God, meaning that we can become conscious of God present to us, and talk to him about what we are feeling and experiencing and what is important to us. It has been said that prayer is the lifting of the mind and heart to God. Remember prayer is spending time with him who loves us.

Apart from this simply spending time with God and talking about what is important to us, there are many kinds of prayer, and each has its time and place. It could be praise, thanksgiving, intercession and petition, mental prayer, vocal prayer, meditation, contemplation, or liturgical prayer. The type of prayer that is being spoken of in the readings today is intercession or petition, that is, asking God for what we or those we love, need.

In the first reading from the book of Exodus, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Joshua led the forces of Israel into the battle and was winning as long as Moses held his arms up high. When Moses tired and his arms began to fall, so also fell the success of the soldiers of Israel. But when Aaron and Hur supported Moses arms, helping him hold them up, then Israel continued winning. This is not a story of some sort of magic. Moses was in the ancient position of prayer, arms held up to God, like we do when we pray the Our Father during Mass.

Moses recognized the power of God and the importance of persevering in prayer, but he found this continual prayer difficult. His arms began to droop. So, he called on Aaron and Hur to assist him in prayer. Aaron and Hur weren't just holding up Moses' arms, they were making it easier for him to pray with their support, and they were praying with him.

In the Gospel Jesus gives a parable about the necessity to pray always without becoming weary or losing heart. He uses the example of a widow who lacks the usual leverage in a patriarchal society, especially the society of Jesus’ time – she has no money, no power, no influence. The only resource she has is persistence. Jesus tells us that when we pray, we must imitate her. There are two lessons we can take from this parable.

Firstly, if this widow, who was utterly powerless and lacking influence, could bring about change through her petition from an unjust, corrupt judge, you and I, however insignificant we may consider ourselves to be, can hope to have our prayers heard. Secondly, if the unjust judge, who, as Jesus says, has no fear of God nor regard for people, eventually gives in to the petitions of the widow, how much more will God who is a loving father listen to the prayers of his people.

Moses believed in God's love for his people and prayed to God to protect the people. In the same way, we have to pray knowing that God loves us. Sometimes we might think that we are strangers to God and feel funny about asking him for help. But we are not strangers to God. God knows us and cares about us and loves us, even if we have not reciprocated with the same continual love of God. He still loves us, just as you still love your children even when they tend to take your love for granted and maybe not offer you much of their love in return.

God hears our prayers. He's not busy elsewhere with other people with problems more difficult than ours. He is infinite and he has infinite love. He has infinite power, and he hears the prayers of the mother just asking God to keep an eye on her children at school, just as he hears the prayers of the Pope asking him to help the world leaders turn from selfishness and aid the poor in their countries. Jesus teaches us the importance of praying always and not losing heart. God loves us and he hears us. God will answer our prayers and make the best of even terrible situations. If we put our trust in God, if we pray to him then he will write straight even with the crooked lines of our lives.

At this point someone might ask why we need to petition God with so many requests when he already knows our needs. Here are some reasons. The most obvious is that Jesus has told us to do so. He said, “Ask and you shall receive.” In today’s Gospel he even proposes as a model the widow who drives a corrupt judge crazy by her persistent nagging. Added to this, we have a model in Jesus himself - Jesus himself prayed.

Then, we also pray because prayer is only one more way God has given us to affect the created world. God has ordered the world so that our prayer makes a difference. Even though God does not need our assistance, he chooses to make us his co-workers in bringing about a better world. God wants us to pray and chooses to bring about good in response to our prayers.

We also pray because prayer is linked to faith. See Jesus’ rhetorical question at the end of the Gospel today: “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Prayer increases our faith. And faith expresses itself in our prayer and the way we live our lives.

So, how do we start to pray, or start again to pray, as those who have been praying for a long time often have to do? Start by taking the time. Thomas Merton said the most important thing about prayer is just taking the time to pray. There is a discipline and perseverance about prayer, which we need to push through. Then also, “less is more”. Prayer is conscious and intentional, being in the love of God and reaching out to God in love; it is not babbling a whole lot of words while our minds and hearts are far away.

Together with the psalmist we can start to pray again and say, I lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall come my help? My help shall come from the Lord who made heaven and earth.