16^th Sunday 2008: Interceding in the Spirit

 

It is a striking fact that Jesus said more about asking forms of prayer than any other such as praise, thanksgiving or worship. It is not surprising because they express our creaturely dependence on God.  In petitionary prayer we express our own needs, in intercessory prayer we focus on the needs of others. There are many outstanding examples of petitionary prayer in the bible. There is the moving account of Hannah praying to become pregnant in 1 Sam 1. For example we are told in verse 15 that when she was criticized by Eli the priest who thought she was drunk, she explained: "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.” During the last week or so we heard how Hezekiah  prayed with tears that he might live longer than expected (Is 38:3). There are also many examples of intercessory prayer in the Old Testament, e.g. Abraham praying that God might spare Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen 18:20-33, or Moses praying for his people e.g. when he asked God to spare them from an attack of snakes in Num 21:7.

 

Not surprisingly we find that Jesus offered petitionary and intercessory prayers. For example in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed: "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will" Mark 14:36. In Heb 5:7 there is an echo of this prayer: “During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.” Jesus also offered prayers of intercession. One outstanding example would be his prayer for unity among the disciples in Jn 17. Another would be his prayer at the tomb of Lazarus.  John says that he not only groaned and wept, "He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled" Jn 11:33. In Heb 7:25 we are told that the risen Jesus continues  to intercede for us in heaven, and the Spirit, our second Advocate,  bears witness to those prayers in our hearts.

 

These points form the background to today’s second reading, where St Paul says: “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will” Rom 8:26-27. I think that it would be true to say that a good deal of the time, we can express our petitions and intercessions into words. For example, when we get to the prayers of the faithful in this mass, we will pray for

     1.       The needs of the Church,  

     2.  For public authorities and the salvation of the world,   

     3.  For those oppressed by any need,

     4.  For the local community.

That said, I think that in our private prayers of petition and intercession we sometimes run out of words. While we are painfully aware of a profound and aching sense of need we don’t quite know what to pray for exactly. For example, someone might ask me to pray for inner healing, e.g. to cure some phobia. Despite an exploration of their memories for some traumatic incident nothing comes to mind. In those case we don't know what to pray for. That is when we may have to resort to inarticulate groans and sighs. Paul says that these are the travails of the Spirit within us praying to God beyond us. But he is convinced that God knows what the Spirit is praying for, in accord with the will of God. That is why he says in Eph 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

 

Those who have received the gift of praying or singing in tongues - which is a form of pre-conceptual prayer  expressed in unintelligible words - can intercede with the lips even when their understanding is shrouded in a cloud of unknowing.  I find that I frequently pray in this way, when I’m ministering to someone else, like the person who needs inner healing for a phobia. This dynamic can also occur at a communal level. Many years ago I attended a charismatic conference in the RDS in Ballsbridge. At one point a priest spoke about the troubles in Northern Ireland. When he had finished he recalled something that John Paul II had said during his visit to Ireland in 1979. "I ask you for a great, intense and growing prayer for all the people of Ireland, for the Church in Ireland, for all the Church which owes so much to Ireland. Pray that Ireland may not fail in the test. Pray as Jesus taught us to pray: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."  Then he invited the large audience of over two thousand people to spend some time in prayer for the healing of our nation. At one point people began to sing quietly in tongues. They did so spontaneously in a minor key. It was quite haunting to hear a large crowd singing a lament in perfect harmony. It seemed to express the inexpressible sadness and longings of the people in unintelligible words, to a melody that was taking spontaneous shape as they sang it. The whole experience sent shivers up and down my spine. Not only was it beautiful in a strange and poignant way, I had a profound impression that the Spirit was anointing our compassionate desires and that God was responding.  Now many years later I feel that those  inarticulate prayers have been answered.

 

We can have considerations like these in mind when we hear St Paul say: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” 1 Tim 2:1-3.

 

 

 

17^th Sunday 2008

(Given to Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul)

 

We begin today by looking at the short parable about the treasure. It depicts how a farm labourer was ploughing another man’s field. As he did so he discovered treasure probably consisting of coins, jewelry and works of art. These would have been the valued possessions of a previous landowner who had hidden them in the field for safe keeping. That person and his family might have been killed during a war or epidemic. As a result nobody knew anything about the treasure. But when the laborer found it, he quickly concealed it again. Then he used his every last cent in order to buy the field so that the treasure might be his. The parable is commending him for his single-minded and wholehearted pursuit of the treasure, which is a symbol of wisdom. When I say wisdom, I am not referring to abstract theory e.g. of a philosophical kind, but an experiential knowledge of the person and purposes of God.

 

In our culture there are many examples of how people pursue their goals in a single-minded and wholehearted way. For instance, those who are going to the Olympic Games focus their whole lives around winning medals. They train relentlessly, modify their diets, and curtail the social lives in order to attain their goal. In a strange way, drug addicts are similar in so far as their sole aim in life is to get their next fix no matter what the cost. They will lie, steal, and sell their bodies in order to get the cash to buy the drugs they need.  In today’s gospel Jesus is saying that his disciples need to be as single-minded and wholehearted in their pursuit of the person and purposes of God as athletes or drug addicts are in the pursuit of their worldly goals. That is why Jesus said: “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (i.e. material and worldly things) shall be yours as well” Matt 6:33. In other words if you prioritize the importance of knowing God and doing God’s will, (which is synonymous with love for the Kingdom of God) the Lord will see to it that your basic human needs are met. As the second reading puts it, "all things will work for good with those who love God."

 

St Vincent de Paul had a strong conviction about this promise. Commenting on Mt 6:33,  he said: “We have good reason to hope that if we seek first the kingdom of God, as Jesus Christ teaches us in the Gospel, we will want for nothing essential. If, on the one hand the world deprives us of something, you can be sure that, on the other that God will make it up to us.” Let me offer  some examples of  how this conviction about the promises of God affected Vincent’s own attitudes. Apparently on one occasion the bursar in of San Lazare in Paris revealed that the house was broke, there wasn’t a penny left to spend. Upon hearing the news, instead of being disturbed or agitated, St Vincent joyfully declared: "What good news! God be blessed! Fine, now we will see if we have confidence in God.” On another occasion San Lazare suffered some great financial loss. When he heard about it Vincent said: “It is a great loss but God knows how to turn it to our profit by means we are now unaware of, but which we will surely see one day.” Some time later he announced: “God has inspired a friend to make a gift to us that covers almost all we lost.”

  

On more than one occasion Vincent referred to the case of a Daughter of Charity who was seeking first the Kingdom by bringing soup to a poor person in the Faubourg Saint Germain. While she was in the house one of its floors collapsed. Thirty people were killed. The only survivors were a baby and the Sister. Vincent said: “This daughter of Charity was saved as though by a miracle. Still clutching the heavy pot in her hand, she found a corner of a room which did not fall, though all the rest tumbled about her. By a second sort of miracle, all sorts of debris fell around her, beams and heavy stone, bureaus, tables and other furniture, but she remained unharmed. She left the ruins safe and sound.” Vincent believed that God’s providence had preserved that sister’s life because she was wholeheartedly devoted to God’s loving will. However, he believed that if people did not seek first God’s kingdom, the promise about all else being added to them would no longer kick in. That is why he said on one occasion, “God wishes to have pity on his poor people who are so ready to complain at a time of scarcity, since they do not know how to use adversity well, nor do they seek first the kingdom of God and his justice. They do not make themselves worthy of those things necessary to the present life.”

 

When we enjoy times of prosperity, we don't need to rely on God because we have all we need so we can't be sure whether we prioritize Christian or worldly things. Times of difficulty for the economy and for the Church can be a blessing in disguise.  Jesus once said, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Mt 6:21. I can remember a Protestant preacher wisely say, "if you want to know where your treasure is ask yourself, what do you spend most time thinking about, money, security, sex etc. or the presence and purposes of God?.  Trying economic times test our hearts to reveal where our real priorities lie. The promise of providential provision seems to only apply to those who love God by single-mindedly and wholeheartedly seeking God's kingdom.

 

I want to conclude this homily with some favorite words from St Vincent. “Christ said: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice, and all those things which you need will be given you as well.” That is the basis for each of us having the following set of priorities:

·                         * Matters involving our relationship with God are more important than temporal affairs

·                        * Spiritual health is more important than physical

·                        * God’s glory is more important than human approval.

Each one, should, moreover, be determined to prefer, like St Paul to do without necessities, to be slandered, or tortured, or even killed, rather than lose Christ’s love. In practice then we ought to have confidence in God that he will look after us since we know for certain that as long as we are grounded in that sort of love and trust we will be always under the protection of God in heaven, we will remain unaffected by evil and never lack what we need even when everything we possess seems headed for disaster.”

 

If we ponder these words in the these trying times of economic recession they will gives us lots to think about, and enable us to absorb one of the key points in today's readings.