Bible
Study: Sirach 35, 12 to 18. 2nd Timothy 4, 6 to 18 and Luke 18, 9 to
14.
Today’s
liturgy bears so much resemblance to that of last Sunday so much so that I
titled it the Part Two. Just as our readings dwelt heavily on the theme of
Prayer, today’s readings also centre on Prayer; why we should always pray, how
we should pray and the content of our prayer.
If you
recall, last Sunday we read about how Moses stood with hands raised in prayer
while the Nation of Israel led by Joshua went into battle against the
Amalekites. So long as Moses’ hands remained raised, victory was on the side of
Israel. This story highlights the fact that prayer is life and we cannot afford
to toil with prayer lest we become defeated by the forces that assail us.
Indeed,
prayer is life. Prayer is life not simply because it assures us the best things
in life, prayer is the only thing we can hold on to in the face of oppression,
injustice and man’s inhumanity to man. Before God we all are poor creatures and
prayer is the only thing that can boost our life and bring us true wealth.
Hence, in today’s first reading, we are told:
“He (God)
will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged. He will not ignore the
supplication of the fatherless, nor the widow when she pours out her story. He
whose service is pleasing to the Lord will be accepted and his prayer will
reach to the clouds.”
In a
society like ours when the rich are ever getting richer at the detriment of the
poor, a society where money is worshipped and human beings are treated like
livestock simply because of their poverty, our readings today encourage us to
PRAY. A single prayer in the lips of a poor man is far more valuable than
millions of naira in the hands of a rich man. Sirach is telling us to pray when
we cannot fight for ourselves, to pray when we have no one to stand in for us,
to pray when we have no parents or no one to serve as our breadwinners.
God
listens with keen interest to the prayers of the innocent who is wronged. God
must surely come to the rescue of that little child who cries. The first
reading also adds: “The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds…” It is one
thing to be humble because of our circumstances but it is more honourable when
we chose to be humble despite who and what we think we are. The disposition of
humility is something essential to make our prayers more effective and we
cannot fake humility! Our level of humility determines the weight our prayers
would carry. It determines whether or not God will listen to us.
How do you
feel taking instructions from a proud person? How do you feel running errand
for a boss who warns you, threatens you, insults you or even beats you while
issuing commands? How do you feel when you have a madam or an oga at the top
who is not simply content with being over you but wants you to know you are
nothing? Sometimes, if we are honest with ourselves, we would agree that this
is how we treat God. We issue commands to God in the name of prayer and we go
about committing sin boldly and carelessly without realizing that by so doing,
we are insulting God.
When we
stand in need of favours, we pretend to be humbling ourselves before God but
the moment we are done praying, we act as if our very bodies belong to us and
that God has no right to determine what we do with it. We say things like:
“Leave me jareee, it is my life abeg eee.” What we don’t know is that our pride
in refusing to live by God’s commands hampers our prayers. We must be humble
for our prayers to pierce the clouds.
Apart from
humility towards God, we also need humility towards to our fellow human beings
for our prayers to be effective. To prove this point, Jesus in our Gospel
passage today teaches us a lesson with the use of the parable about two men who
went to the temple to pray. One was such a proud man who felt he was better
than the rest of the world while the other was truly humble. The prayer of the
proud was rejected while that of the humble always pierces the clouds.
The fact
that we are able to keep God’s commands does not give us room to look down on
other people who are not as holy as ourselves. This is because in the real
sense of the word, it is only by God’s grace that we live holy lives. And so,
when we pray, we should desist from attacking other people or analysing the
evil things they have done because we only make our prayers invalid by so
doing.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, teach me to humble myself and to pray well. Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu
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