THE BITTER TRUTH: WE ARE FREE TO ASK FOR ANYTHING BUT CERTAIN PRAYERS ACTUALLY OFFEND GOD. (Homily for February 6, 2016. Saturday of the 4th Week in Ordinary Time.)

Bible Study:  1st Kings 3, 4 to 13. And Mark 6, 30 to 34.


When we read the Bible with a plain and open mind, there are certain truths that suddenly jump off the pages. In the course of this week, we have brought out some of these hard truths but I consider that today’s own happens to be the most bitter. Why? We live in such a materialistic society that all our prayers these days are direct opposites of the kind of prayers that please God.

I mean, if God could be pleased by a particular type of prayer, then it is possible for him to be offended as well by a type of prayer. Today, we read of how Solomon’s prayer pleased God because instead of asking for wealth or long life or the death of his enemies, he asked simply for wisdom, understanding and ability to discern between good and evil.

Note that God was the one who told Solomon: “Ask for anything and I shall give you.” In the same way, Jesus Christ said to us in Matthew 21, verse 22: “And WHATEVER you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” In other words, we are always free to pray for whatever we like.

But recall that when a man met Jesus and asked him to come and settle the inheritance tussle between him and his brother, Jesus responded in a rather hash manner. In Luke 12, 13 to 15, we read: “One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?" And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Do you consider that each time we pray for riches, for wealth or other material possessions, we are also offending God who has told us not to place our trust on riches? Do you even consider why we do not receive immediate answers to such prayers?

The bitter truth is that because we have made a god of riches, because we worship people who have money, each time we pray for wealth, we are saying to God, “I don’t really need you, I need money!” and because we cannot deceive God, he feels really offended that we are constantly asking for something to replace him in our lives. And we are all guilty of this!

Dear friends, MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING. The more of it we get, the more our needs increase and the less satisfied we become. There are things that are better than money, one of which is WISDOM; the ability to distinguish between good and evil. To value wisdom more than money is to value God above everything else.
In our Gospel passage the disciples of Jesus return after completing their assignment of going out two by two into the villages to preach. From the angle of our materialistic thinking today, one would have expected that Jesus would share out large sums of money to them as their reward, instead he says to them, “come to a lonely place and rest.” The whole idea of a lonely place is to have quiet time with God for prayer and impartation of wisdom. This is why Jesus takes time to teach the crowd many things upon arriving at the lonely place. By teaching, Jesus increased their wisdom.

Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, may my prayers be pleasing and acceptable to you. Amen.

Saints Paul Miki and Companions, Pray for Us.

God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Weekend.


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