How Prayer Works-HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR I 12TH SEPTEMBER 2023

How Prayer Works-HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR I 12TH SEPTEMBER 2023

Col.2:6-15; Ps.145; Luke 6:12-19

How Prayer Works

Today’s gospel tells us about Jesus choosing his twelve disciples. This is one action of Jesus that is contained in the three synoptic gospels and the gospel of John (Matt.4:18-22, Mk.1:16-20, Luke 6:6-11, Jn.1:35-42). However, Luke’s account is unique in that only Luke says that Jesus chose his disciples after spending ample time in prayer. This is a common feature in Luke. He always presented Jesus in prayer; to teach his (Luke) gentile audience the essence of prayer.

The author of the gospel of Luke went on to mention the names of the chosen disciples. When we consider the nature of these twelve men, we find so many things to learn. Let us focus on the last name. The author identified him as “Judas Iscariot who became a traitor”. Could this be a mistake on the part of Christ? Was He aware of who Judas Iscariot was and what he will do in the future? Or is it the case that the Spirit of God wrongly directed Him in choosing the twelve disciples?

We ask these questions because we want to think that if Jesus who needed not to pray (since he is God), did prayed, then all the more reason everything should be perfect thereafter. Beloved, if we put together “Jesus in prayer” and “Jesus’ selection of Judas Iscariot”, we come to understand better how God answers prayers.

The perfection that comes to us when we pray is not one that means absence of challenges. The presence of problems in one’s life is not a sign that one is not prayerful or that one has not prayed enough. There is no statistics to show that those who are prayerful have lesser problems than those who are not. Prayer is not a medicine we take when we are ill which will bring about a total disappearance of our ailment. Prayer is a relationship.

Being a relationship, prayer strengthens us to carry on even the vicissitudes of life. When Jesus welcomed to himself all who are heavy burdened and over laden with the promise of giving them rest, he quickly added that his yoke is easy and his burden is light (cf.Matt.11:28-30). He did not say that he has no yoke and no burden. Ps.34:19 says: “Many are the troubles of the just, but the Lord delivers them from them all”.

Stop interpreting the presence of challenges in your life as a sign that God has not heard your prayers. Whoever gives you such impression is not telling you the truth. In the first reading, St. Paul warns “see to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit…”. The presence of Judas amongst the twelve turned out to be a step in the right direction. Even in his mischievousness, he was bringing about the fulfillment of God’s plan.

Apart from giving a YES to our request, another way God answers prayer is by writing straight on the crooked lines of our lives. So long as we remain prayerful, we will never be lost.