Homily[2] 17th
Sunday of Year C: Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
·
Genesis
18:20-32· Psalm 138:1-3,6-7,7-8
· Colossians 2:12-14
· Luke 11:1-13
God’s Mercy; Persistence
in Prayer,
Today, and in
this Year of Mercy, we celebrate once again God’s Mercy and the need to
constantly praise God, worship him, and petition him for our needs, pray for
one another: our nations, our churches, families and friends. This need is
evidence in today’s Bible Readings.
In the 1st
reading (Genesis 18:20-32), we find Abraham, our father in faith, one of Israel’s
“earliest prophet”(Gen 20:7) interceding, persistently for the sinful cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah. In response to his intercession
God shows that he is not only merciful, forgiving, and kind to the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah but also because of lives of a few tens of innocent,
prayerful people in these communities. This is true of us. You never know how
far your prayers, those rosaries we say, those masses we attend—how far your
holiness of life and goodness has contributed in the blessings of God upon our
sinful lands and families.
As Pope Francis
would remind us when he kicked off in this Year of Mercy, Christ Jesus (in our
NT time) is the face of the God of Abraham, the Father of Mercy. Christ went to
the Cross on our behalf. This is why Saint Paul says in the 2nd
reading (Col 2:12-14) that even though we were sinners, through Christ’
passion, and intercessions, we, like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah have been
saved!
It is through Christ
that we offer our prayers to God the Father. A persistent, short, sweet prayer
of praise, worship, lamentation, and thanksgiving for all that God has done for
us: the life he provides, the air, mountains, seas, food, clothing, nations and
families. Through this Christ should be our request to God, to always do his
will and petition for what we need and lack in life- forgiveness of sins, and
blessings upon our land.
This is
exemplified in the today’s Gospel (Luke 11:1-13) the Lord’s Prayer which we
recite at every Mass. We mastered this
prayer by heart, when we were preparing for our various sacraments. In this prayer,
Christ teaches us how to pray. He reminds us that prayer is a relationship, a
communication, a dialogue with God. It requires the intimacy that we find in a
child parents relationship. And must be done with the consistency we saw in
Abraham, who interceded for the cities Sodom and Gomorrah. This is the meaning of “seek and you will
find, knock and he door will be opened.” Do we value prayer? Do we pray? When
and how? What and whom do we pray for?
These are some of the questions we may ask ourselves as we reflect on today’s
scriptures.
We may have had
our set-backs (like Job, Habakkuk, Sarah, Hanah, Abraham Lincoln etc.…) disappointments, threats,
failures, loss of our loved ones in life, we must not give up in prayers. Never
Give Up! Prayer is essential for every Christian. Prayer to our merciful God is
essential for family members, friends, and elected officials. Prayer for
ourselves, the church, the sick, the deceased, sinners, sick nations like Sodom
and Gomorrah and for our friends and children.
