Lord, teach us to pray.

 

Seventeenth Sunday in OT  C  2025

 

In the gospel, Jesus was praying by himself.  The disciples knew how important prayer was for Jesus, and so, they asked Jesus to teach them to pray. 

 

Jesus is a much better teacher on prayer than I am.  I was teaching a group of first graders on prayer some time ago.  After I finished my talk on prayer, one young girl raised her hand, and I was delighted that she wanted to engage on her prayer life.  So, when I called on her, she simply said:  “I need to go to the bathroom.”

 

Back to Jesus, of all the things the disciples saw Jesus do, the one thing they ask about is prayer.  “Lord, teach us to pray.”        

 

Now the disciples had noticed that Jesus often prayed.  Jesus prays before his baptism; he prays before the Transfiguration; he prays after the seventy returned from their mission.  Jesus prays all the time.

 

And the disciples see this.  They notice that prayer is an essential part of Jesus’ life, and that if they want to follow Jesus, if they want to be like Jesus, if they want to imitate Jesus, then they must pray.

 

 

Now, 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 St. Joseph’s 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.

 

In the first Scripture reading from the Book of Genesis, we see the intimate relationship that Abraham enjoys with God.  In his prayer, he is bargaining with God to save the people of Sodom.  In this prayer, God promises Abraham, I will spare the city of Sodom if only ten innocent people can be found.

 

In our prayer life, can we speak with the kind of trust and confidence that characterized the prayer of Abraham.

 

 

 

In our prayer life, what would you describe as your greatest temptation?  What keeps from being focused on the priority of prayer?    It’s not that we are atheists or agnostics.  It’s not that we have actively rejected God and defied God by sinning.   Often it seems we simply are indifferent or too busy about many other things.

 

The Mass we celebrate is in itself a prayer.  Not to pray is to show God our indifference.  What does it mean when we turn Sunday Mass into something that 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, what keeps us from deepening our relationship with God?   Do our deeds reflect that prayer works 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.

 

Trust me as I present this challenge to you, I present this challenge to myself.  I know I need to be challenged as where I place the priority of prayer in my life.  May we all ask ourselves the honest question of whether our actions confirm that God is the lead priority of our lives.

 

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.

 

 

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 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.

 

Have  a Blessed Day.

 

 

 

 

Propagation of the Faith 2025

 

PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH HOMILY  2025

In my 57 years as a priest, excluding Christmas and Easter Masses, I have never experienced a liturgy in which at 6:00 am on each and every school day 1,000 high school girls in full Catholic school uniform sing the opening hymn with enthusiastic voices accompanied only by one high school girl in the choir loft striking a well-worn drum.  I tell you looking out from the altar at these Tanzanian girls was a mystical moment of prayerfulness and joy.

We were indeed on holy ground.  Father Damian Milliken, a Benedictine priest from Elmira, New York, was presiding at the Mass.  Father Damian is a priest now in his 90’s and has ministered in the last 50 years of his priesthood serving the poorest of the poor in Tanzania, East Africa.  The genuine love and respect that Father Damian enjoys with these young Tanzanians and their families and all who live in the area around Mazinde Ju is so Christ-like and uplifting. 

Equally impressive is a religious community of consecrated women who are such an important part of the teaching faculty.  These are the religious sisters of Usambara.  Dressed in their full habit, these sisters number 500 in Tanzania.  These sisters know in their DNA the joy of the Lord.

About six years ago, six parishioners from St. Joseph’s parish made this pilgrimage to Tanzania arriving in the Mount Kilimanjaro International Airport warmly greeted by Father Damian.  As a side bar, we did not have time to hike up Mt Kilimanjaro but that mountain sure is impressive.   We visited and became part of the community of St. Mary’s School in Mazinde Ju located on the side of a mountain in one of the poorest regions of Tanzania.  This was such a precious God moment for the six of us.  We were privileged to enter the world of Father Damian and the sisters of Usambara and these high school girls who are so very, very grateful for this educational experience that gives them the opportunity to go on to a university and have job opportunities which otherwise these students simply would not have.   For these students come from very poor families.

In a culture that is so different from what I am used to, to be immediately accepted and embraced and loved truly is an experience of a lifetime.

To describe St Mary’s School is a bit of a challenge.  It is a residential school where these students live during the academic year and are able to get three healthy meals each day.  The dormitories these students live in are filled with bunk beds.  Each girl has a tiny cubicle which houses all her worldly possessions including all her clothing.  I have a beautiful niece for whom to put all her clothes in this tiny cubicle would simply be impossible. 

These beloved daughters of God have no sense of entitlement by which they expect people to take care of them.  They are so grateful for every opportunity in life that is given to them.  They are not saddened by the effects of the poverty of the country; they are joy-filled in the opportunity that is given to them as students in this quality academic setting that is filled with so much love and so much spirituality.

Why do I tell you all this?  This weekend is our parish’s annual Propagation of the Faith Mission Appeal in which we are asked to spiritually and financially St Mary’s School in Masinde Ju in Tanzania.   Previously in this annual Propagation of the Faith Mission appeal, Father Damian has spoken in parishes in our diocese.  This year, Father Damian asked me to preach in order to save the money that would have cost for him to make the trip.

For the last several years, I have personally contributed $1,000 which provides a scholarship for a student for a whole year.   I gladly make this $1,000 contribution each year.  I had the profound privilege of spending some time with this young Tanzanian girl I have sponsoring.  I tell you I had to tell myself: “Be still my heart.” when I realized the opportunity I was giving this daughter of God in my prayer and in my tithing commitment.  In all truth, l cannot think of a better use of this money.  The second collection today goes in support of this Tanzanian ministry.  I have talked about St. Mary’s School, our contributions also go to support another nearby high school for schools founded by Father Damian and headed by Sister Christa, another Sister of Usambara.  Father Damian has also founded St Benedict’s parish with an elementary school connected to it. 

Today’s gospel is the very familiar and much-loved parable of the good Samaritan.  The gospel clearly calls us to be missionaries of mercy in the lives of people in need.  We are to be witnesses to the mercy of God to each other.  The mercy of God means sharing with one another acts of undeserved kindness.

In the parable, the scholar of the law asked Jesus the question:  Who is your neighbor?  I would ask you a follow up question:  Who is not your neighbor?

At both St Joseph’s and Holy Spirit, we seek to make a part of the DNA of our spirituality reaching beyond ourselves to help and serve and support and love people in need.  That is the message of Jesus demonstrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Our mission collection today, the second collection, invites us to be Good Samaritans to these Tanzanian high school girls.  Just as you would do everything for your daughters, I invite you to consider these Tanzanian young women as your spiritual daughters.

Yes, we live in a divided, polarized world.  Yes, in some ways, we live in a divided, polarized Church.

But I always go back to the last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples at the Last Supper on the night before he died:  By this all shall know you are my disciples, by your love for one another.

Have a Blessed day.

 

 

 

 

 

                                          

 

 

 

 

In what ways do we share equality with each other?

  

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN OT C  2025

 

“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 6, 2025.  We are missioned to share in the mission and ministry of Jesus.  This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.  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 on 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.

 

What would it take for us to live by the values by the founders of this great nation and what it take for us to be more faithful  to the mission that Jesus gave to His original apostles and disciples?

 

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.

 

May we retain true to these values as Americans.

 

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 we are to be peacemakers in a troubled world.

 

The mission of the Church is to carry on the mission of Jesus --  to live as Jesus lives, to love as Jesus loves, to forgive as Jesus forgives us.  The mission of the Church is to lift us and to affirm the dignity of each and every person – regardless of their race, regardless of their sexual orientation, regardless of their politics, their religion or whatever difference you can possibly think of.  Today’s Gospel makes clear that all of us are to be missionaries proclaiming this mission.

 

We are both Americans who are committed to the values of the founders of this great nation.   We are also the disciples of Jesus committed to binding the wounds of our brothers and sisters and we are to be peacemakers in a troubled world.

 

 

Have a Blessed Day.