The 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Wi 12:13, 16-19, Rm 8:26-27, Mt 13:24-43)
First, the bad news: “We do not know how to pray as we ought.” How many of us have not been able to relate to this saying at some point in our life, or perhaps most of the time? After all, who are we to try to communicate with Someone so far out of our league? If we tried to set up an appointment with President Biden or King Charles or some entertainment celebrity or sports star, we would be brushed aside and ignored. How much more God, who is so far beyond these little gnats.
Or, similarly, maybe we think God is actually interested in us but he is way too busy with far more important issues. Picture it as the old-time phone operator switchboard with little red lights blinking from all the calls coming in from all over the world of people who want to talk to God at this very moment. Surely, my call must be at least a billion people down the priority list in urgency.
Or, perhaps we’re plagued by the thought that we’re not going about it the right way. I’m using the wrong technique. I need to switch to another method. If I just found the right combination it would all flow effortlessly like it did before. As anyone who has been at this awhile can tell you, dryness is all part of the process. We need to become convinced that it doesn’t all depend on us. God isn’t going to be controlled by us. He’s not an inert safe where we punch in the right set of numbers and the door swings open and all kinds of glittery things come spilling out. We need to learn on a deep level just how truly we are merely beggars.
OK, our second reading took note of this bad news. But it also shared some really good news, namely: “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness . . . the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.”
What tremendously good news! The Holy Spirit himself is inside us praying to the Father. We have an Advocate who is doing all the work for us.
But this doesn’t happen automatically. The Holy Trinity isn’t going to force itself on us. We have our role to play in it too. There are certain things we need to do on our end.
One thing is to make time for prayer every day – a period of time that is dedicated to God alone. As monks, we should be doing that at least twice a day. Lay people will not regret making that a priority and arranging other things around it. It could be maybe 20 or 30 minutes long. Fulton Sheen strongly recommended to priests a holy hour every day in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It’s good to make it the same time every day so our body and soul gets into a rhythm. Once we’ve found a time that works, we need to be faithful to it and show up every day, whether we feel like it or not. Speaking of feelings, it’s tempting to judge our prayer times by how we felt or like what we got out of it. But we have to remind ourselves intellectually that the Holy Spirit is praying within us and that God is not required to give us consolations every time. Otherwise, we run the risk of getting addicted to the consolations instead of God himself, rain or shine, thick or thin.
On our end, we need to make a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit to pray within us. We need to be in the state of grace. If we can think of any mortal sins, we need to go to confession. All sin obstructs, restricts, and slows down the amount of grace that God wants to flow into us, and through us to others. It’s good to begin our prayer period with a heartfelt Act of Contrition to sweep the house clean. Are we holding onto any unforgiveness or resentment? We need to let that go. It’s hurting us more than the other person. And in the Our Father we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Then, do our best to ignore distractions. Distractions are bound to come, but once we realize we’re trailing off on one we smile and bring ourselves back once again. The devil doesn’t like it when we’re praying and he’s going to think up some really juicy distractions to get us derailed. Some find it helpful to repeat over and over again a word or phrase, maybe something from Scripture.
I once heard it compared to a landing strip. Think of being in a place that is uneven and has rocks and bushes and trees and stuff. No pilot is going to try to land there. Our job is to clear the landing of all obstructions and make it nice and inviting. Then God will land when and how he likes. We can’t command him down on our terms. We can only invite him. And we are reassured in this reading today that he is eagerly longing for that invitation and will come down and do all the rest, regardless of whether we feel like it is taking place or not.
“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.”
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