17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C

The 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

R1- Genesis 18:20-32

RS – Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8

R2 - Colossians 2:12-14

G – Luke 11:1-13

On the surface, today’s readings are about persistence in prayer. In the first reading, Abraham haggles with God trying to save the people of Sodom. He is persistent, but in the end not even ten good people could be found. Had he continued, he may have gotten God down to just one good person and saved the city, but Abraham knew when to stop. After teaching the disciples the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus told the parable of the friend needing help at midnight. The man is reluctant to get out of bed and help his friend but Jesus assures us that he will do so either out of friendship or out of persistence.

Jesus instructs us to ask, seek, and knock. We are to be persistent in these actions, but we also have to ask for and seek the right things and knock on the right doors. God is the good father and he would never give us anything that will do us harm. His generosity knows no limits in giving us things that are good for our soul. Ask for his forgiveness through the sacrament of confession and you will have it. Seek his mercy and you will find it. Knock and the door of everlasting life will be opened to you. The material things of this world that we ask for are usually snakes and scorpions disguised as fish and eggs. These he will never give to us no matter how persistent we are in asking for them.

If we let our nets down into the deep water, we find that today’s readings are not so much about persistence in prayer, but more about the relationship with the one to whom we are praying. They aren’t about pestering God until he gives us what we want, but establishing a love relationship with our heavenly father. Prayer was an integral part of Jewish life. Their lives were centered around prayer. They prayed the psalms throughout the day and this is where we got our Liturgy of the Hours. The disciples were used to the rabbis praying, but they noticed something very different in the way that Jesus prayed. The rabbis spoke to God as if he were far off. Jesus addressed God in an intimate and familiar way. When they asked Jesus to teach them how they should pray, Jesus revealed God to them in a way no one ever had – as father.

Jesus further emphasizes this when he calls God abba, which properly translated means daddy. We are to have a relationship with God like that of a small child. One of complete love, trust, and respect. God is not some thunder and lightning that resides on a far-off mountain. He is an intimate and loving father who only wishes to give his children good things.

Prayer is not a part-time job. It is not a hobby. It is not something we do only when we want something. Prayer is the backbone of our loving relationship with our father in heaven. The more you pray the deeper your relationship with God will be. So be persistent. Talk to God constantly. Just remember to give him the opportunity to talk back.