Lord, teach us to pray.

In the gospel, Jesus was praying by himself.  The disciples observing Jesus at prayer then asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  Jesus responds by giving us a brief catechism on prayer.

Jesus lives in a rhythm of prayer and action, swimming in both the waters of God and the waters of the world.  He knows when he must turn toward God and when he must turn toward the incessant demands of the world.  In the rhythm of our spiritual life, we seek this balance.  We too seek to swim in the waters of God and in the waters of the world; we seek greater awareness when to turn toward God in prayer and when to turn in service to the many needs that surround us in the world.        

Without any doubt, all of us seek to connect with God in our lives.  This is the purpose of our prayer.  Indeed any time we gather liturgically, we pray the Lord’s Prayer.  In prayer, we recognize the awesome holiness of God who wants to share his life with us.  It’s not about us, it’s about God.  Jesus came to proclaim the reign of God, and he calls his disciples to realize it.  Jesus invites us to the Eucharistic table where he is the bread of life.  As we ask God to nourish us, we must be ready to nourish our hungry brothers and sisters.  We come to the Eucharistic table confessing that we have sinned and asking God and our brothers and sisters to forgive us.

I suggest our greatest temptation to our faith life is indifference.  It’s not that people are atheists or agnostics.  It’s not that people have actively rejected God and defied God by sinning.  They simply are indifferent.  They are too busy about other things.

The Mass we celebrate is in itself a prayer.  Not to pray is to show God our indifference.  To turn

Sunday Mass into something that is only optional is to tell God that for us He is only optional.  For sure, we would not say that God is optional in the way we profess our faith in words, but we need to challenge ourselves and ask if the way we live our life matches the words we say.

As you reflect on your prayer life, too often are we too indifferent to deepening our relationship with God?   Do our deeds reflect that prayer works only when we can fit it into our busy schedule, or do we say that prayer is the first requirement of a disciple of Jesus?  The rest of the day then is structured around our times of prayer.

The disciples have been taught the words of prayer in the Lord’s Prayer but more is needed.  We need to have the proper inner disposition.  We must open our hearts to our giving and forgiving God.  We need to trust that we are in the hands of God, and that all will be well for those who trust in the immensity of God’s love for us.

  

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us how to pray.  Most important, he teaches to whom we pray – a loving and caring Father into whom we entrust our concerns and our lives.  Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit. 

We begin the Lord’s Prayer by addressing God as Father.  All who offer this prayer are children of one Father, thus brothers and sisters to one another.  We the faith community of the Church of the Holy Spirit are brothers and sisters to one another.  There are to be no strangers among us -- only friends who perhaps have not yet met.

Before we petition God with our human needs, we say “hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  We first unite ourselves with the being and the activity of God.  God invites us into an intimate relationship in which we see ourselves, and then we can feel free to boldly ask for what we need.

Jesus teaches to pray.   He also teaches us for what we pray:  not just for immediate needs, but, more important, for ultimate needs:  the furthering of God’s kingdom, the gift of forgiveness, and protection from anything that would take us from God.

Jesus teaches us not only the words to pray, but what deeds must match authentic prayer.  So, we are given three important truths about prayer.  The first comes from the parable of the persistent friend.  A pesky neighbor disturbs a sleeping friend and disrupts the household. In this parable, Jesus teaches us the need for persistence in our prayer life.

    

Then Jesus invites to be bold in asking for what we need – no need to be timid about our prayers of petition.  “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find.”  The Lord invites us to present our needs before Him confident that our prayers will be heard.

Finally Jesus says:  “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?...How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Prayer then, for the disciple, is not imposing our will on God, but opening ourselves to God’s will for us.  For this to happen, within us and within the community, the Holy Spirit is indeed the gift that is needed.

In this Gospel, Jesus not only teaches us the words to say in the Lord’s prayer, but Jesus gives us also a window into the heart of God who can give be trusted to give us His beloved children always not what we want but always what we need.

There is a Martha and Mary within each one of us.

Today’s readings tell us two very different meal stories.

Father Abraham stars in the first Scripture reading as the host who spares absolutely nothing in welcoming strangers to his home.

Abraham looking up saw three men standing nearby.  When he saw them, he ran from the entrance to greet them, to welcome them, to provide extravagant hospitality and a warm meal for them.

Abraham’s story reminds us that we never know in what guise God will show up.  Luckily he did not live in a gated community.  Abraham’s servants were tasked with hospitality rather than security.

The first reading is about strangers being entertained and the people didn’t know that the Lord was visiting them.  When we open our heart and home to the stranger and the neighbor we are receiving God into our lives.

The Indian poet Tagore writes – “and when you left I saw God’s footprints on the floor.

As with Abraham in the first reading, God may be coming to us as the one in need.  If our hearts are not generous and welcoming, how often have we turned God away and in turn failed to experience the generosity He wants to bestow on us.

Abraham shows us that the welcome we offer to the stranger is the welcome we offer to God.  Christ is received in every guest.

Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality to the three mysterious visitors leads to the revelation that they will have a son.

In the Gospel account, Jesus, going along a road, came to a village and was welcomed into a house.  There one sister, having to get the meal, complained that the other sister just sat and listened to Jesus; and Jesus says that this second sister, named Mary, had chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.

The traditional interpretation of this passage points to the distinction between an active, service spirituality and the more prayerful, listening spirituality.  In our discipleship of the Lord Jesus, there is a place for service, and there is a place for prayerfulness.  We spend a lifetime seeking the balance between the two ways of discipleship.

I invite your prayer for that balance in the spiritual life.

Lord, we pray for parents today.  Let them not fall into the trap of worrying and fretting about doing many things for their children, then complaining no one is helping them.  Remind them that the only essential thing is to sit down at the feet of their children and listen to them.

Another prayer:

Lord, so often we keep busy, complaining about all we have to do, and that others are leaving us to do all the work by ourselves.  We even ask you to tell them to help us.  We thank you for that day when you sent someone to speak to us

-          A homily in Church.

-          One of our children told us we were insincere.

-          A sin we committed.

We were hurt and angry but now we realize that it was Jesus speaking to us as he spoke to Martha, showing us that we were really running away from the one thing we needed more than any other, to spend more time in prayer, to sit at your feet and listen as you show us the truth about ourselves.

Lord, there is a Martha and Mary within each of us.

                -a part of ourselves which is busy and active,

                -another part which sits at your feet and listens trustingly to your word.

We need our active side to accomplish your will, but the listening is the best part, and we must not allow it to be taken from us.

Martha’s major error was to let the menu overshadow the encounter with Jesus.     Martha let agitation about the kitchen cancel out the nourishment that comes from being in Jesus’ presence.  We need the nourishment that comes from the kitchen table; we also need the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord Himself.  Isn’t it true, that hospitality’s most important dimension is listening attentively to your guests.

As we reflect on our spiritual side, remember the truth that we can do many holy things without ever becoming holy.  There may be much action in our lives, very worthwhile action, but we need first to listen to the Lord in prayer before we can be people of action.  Is our active life leading us to deepen our encounter, our relationship with the Lord Jesus?

Jesus is not telling Martha that her work is not important, nor is he commending Mary for doing nothing.  He is simply reminding his followers that if we want to serve Him, we must first listen to Him.  We need to be people of prayer before we are people of action.

Martha and Mary serve together as patronesses and partners in a living Church. Thanks be to God there is both a Martha and a Mary to the spiritual dynamic of St. Joseph’s Church.  Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity devote an hour to the adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament before going to serve Jesus in the suffering people they find in the streets.   Going and doing and sitting and listening are complimentary aspects of authentic discipleship.  But please God, may we never lose sight of the ways we encounter the Lord in our prayer.

The equality envisioned by our founders of this great nation is a Gospel truth. We are all God's beloved, and we are to share with one another in ways that reflect that equality.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are equated equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,  that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

In reflecting on these words taken from the second paragraph of our nation’s Declaration of Independence, we must say there are many ways in which we are not all equal.  Some people enjoy the blessings of material prosperity much more than others.  Some people are more academically gifted than others.  Some folks enjoy the blessings of health much more than others.

And so we ask the question how is  equality shared among us.  The Declaration of Independence says we are all created equal and that we are endowed by our Creator.  The fundamental  equality that we all share is that each one of us without exception are God’s beloved sons and daughters.  The Declaration of Independence has it right when it says we are created equal, and that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Indeed the equality envisioned by the founders of this great nation is a Gospel truth that is to be celebrated.  We are God’s beloved, and that we are to relate to one another in ways that reflect that equality.

As we celebrate the Fourth of July weekend and as we give thanks to God for the many blessings we enjoy as citizens of this country that we deeply love, it is good to pause and reflect on being American and being Catholic.

For example, what is the freedom we aspire to as Americans and what is the freedom we aspire as the disciples of Jesus.  As Americans, it is easy for us to lose track of the meaning of freedom that was given to us by our founding fathers and mothers.

Sometimes as Americans we think of freedom as the right to self-expression, to express my individuality in any way I wish and at any time I wish.  This is my right as an American, thank you very much.

This overly individualistic view of freedom needs to be balanced and corrected by a Gospel sense of freedom and discipleship.  As St Paul says, Christ has set us free – free to serve, free to love, free to celebrate that the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Freedom for a disciple isn’t just about individualism.  It is the freedom to be about building up the Kingdom of God in the here and now; it is the freedom to serve; it is the freedom to wash the feet of God’s poor.

From today’s Gospel, twenty centuries ago, Jesus summoned 72 committed people and sent them, two by two, to communicate God’s love, to bind up wounds, and to be peacemakers in a troubled world.  These ordinary people took with them no great plan, no set speech, no “how-to” manual.  They brought only their faith, their trust, and their experience of Jesus.  Jesus knew they would make mistakes; nevertheless, he involved them in his mission and gave them his authority.

Jesus may have sent them out without purse, bag, and sandals, but he did not send them out without advice.  Yes, they were to live simply.  The disciples of Jesus are to experience freedom in that simplicity.  They are to be missionaries for the reign of God.

Flash forward now twenty centuries to July 4, 2016.  We are sent to share in the mission and ministry of Jesus.  This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. We are the Body of Christ.  We need to leave the baggage behind that keeps from focusing on our mission of witnessing to the love of Jesus in our community.  We need to leave behind the baggage of old hurts, of grudges that we have been holding onto too long, of prejudices that keep us from recognizing in our neighbor one of God’s beloved.

The Gospel invites us to reflect on the truth that Jesus sends all of us out to be missionaries.  As American Christians, we have a dual citizenship.  We certainly are citizens of America; but as baptized disciples of Jesus Christ, we are also citizens of and belong to the Reign of God.

As we celebrate our nation’s anniversary of our independence, may we remember and celebrate that indeed we are a nation of immigrants; we celebrate the equality we share with one another; we are a nation of welcome and hospitality; we are a nation that fosters peace and provides opportunities for growth for one and all.

As disciples, Jesus challenges us in our life’s work, in our relationships, in our personal spirituality to try to instill elements of the Reign of God into American culture.

As we celebrate the great nation that we have been blessed with, let us also be aware of the great gift of faith we have been blessed with. 

In today’s gospel passage, Jesus appointed 72 others to go ahead of him with news of God’s love and peace.  Those 72, in Luke’s view, represented the diverse nations of the world.  Jesus’ mission and message were intended for all.  That work of evangelization continues throughout history.

In sending out the 72,    Luke wants to tell us the mission of Jesus is not only carried forward by the so called experts like priests and religious but it is the responsibility of every believer in Jesus.  Each one of us, as the community of the baptized, are missioned to communicate God’s love, bind up the wounds of our brothers and sisters, and are to be peace-makers in a troubled world.