Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 07/24/22 Teach Us How

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

Homily from the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Who determines the How. The disciples did not merely want Jesus to help them have a "better spiritual life" or a deeper prayer life; they wanted to pray how He prayed. And Jesus taught them. He taught them that Who we pray to determines how we pray. Mass Readings from July 24, 2022: Genesis 18:20-32 Psalms 138:1-3, 6-8Colossians 2:12-14 Luke 11:1-13

So today, we're going to talk about prayer. This is going to jump right into it. Because I just think it's fascinating. In Luke, Luke, Chapter 11, it's the first 13 verses of Chapter 11. Really remarkable because the whole context is set up where they're seeing Jesus pray. Because this is one of the things that Jesus will do a lot, right? Jesus would be praying. They would see him go off by himself.

But this is one of those occasions where they were watching the Lord pray. I don't know if you've ever done that, where you're just going to watch someone pray. and you're like, I wonder what's going on inside there. Here are the disciples of Jesus, and they know that this person, they may not know who he is, they may not know what he is, full God and full man, but they know that he prays a lot,

and they know that he does it differently than them. So they ask him, like basically, not just teach us how to pray like John taught his disciples. What's behind that is, Lord, teach us to pray like you. That's what the request is, like summarized. That's the question. That's the request. Teach us to pray.

the way you pray. Because you pray differently. It's interesting. They're not asking Jesus, like, hey, give us some new combination of words because these are Jews, right? The disciples were all Jews. They knew the Psalms. They knew the canticles.

They knew the Bible. So they knew the prayers. What they're asking is something more. Teach us to pray the way you pray. I think this is really important for us, too, because a lot of us, I mean, if you're joining us, it's because you want to be closer to the Lord. It's because you want to have a prayer life.

But I want to make sure that we're setting our sights at the right level. Because some ways, like, I want to be more spiritual. That's too low. Right, I want to have a better prayer life. That's good, but it's too low. It's too small. Our desire should be what the disciple's desire was, which is, I want to pray the way Jesus prayed.

So that's the request. And it's awesome because out of all the different ways, Jesus could tell them how to pray. All the different, like, here's how you pray. because there's a bunch of different ways to pray, right? A bunch of different hows. He could say, well, you should have meditative prayer. You should have prayers of praise, prayers of Thanksgiving,

prayers of intercession, prayers of petition. All these different kinds of prayers, all these hows, Jesus doesn't answer by telling them how to pray. Ultimately, his answer is, I want to tell you who you're praying to. Because we know this. Because of Jesus, we know this. The who determines the how. The who we're praying to determines how we pray.

And this is so important because if we get the identity of the one we're talking to wrong, we're going to get prayer wrong. All of our prayer is going to be wrong. So, I mean, this goes all the way back to the first reading, the first reading from Genesis chapter 18. Here's this famous story, right, of Sodom and Gomorrah. What's happening in this story is God is revealing himself. Let's put this in context.

Again, this is the 18th chapter of the very first book of the Bible, and God has started revealing himself, a couple chapters before this, to this man, Abraham. And Abraham doesn't necessarily know who God is. Because Abraham has an idea about the gods and goddesses, because in that Mesopotamian world, there's a bunch of gods and goddesses, and the Greco-Roman world, a bunch of gods and goddesses. And what he knows is what they knew, which is, yeah, the gods are, some of them are beautiful,

some of them are powerful, some of them are wise. Many of them are foolish. Many of them are petty. Many of them are vindictive. So Abraham doesn't know who God is. And so this chapter 18 is God revealing himself to Abraham. So Abraham will know, this is the one you're talking to. When you're talking to me, this is what you're talking to.

And you're talking to a God who's a judge. Now, like, yeah, I knew it. Hate that. We can sometimes hesitate when we hear the God is a judge. Because our minds go to all the, I think, here's what my mind does. My mind goes to all the things I've done wrong, all the things I'm guilty for. I'm like, I don't like the idea of God is a judge. No, we love the idea of God as a judge.

We just don't like the idea of being judged. That's what we need to get that out there right now. But we need for God to be a judge. what happens in the first reading, or chapter 18, it says, God says, the outcry against Sonaman Gamora is so great and their sin is so grave that I must go down there. What's he revealing? Judges care.

This is so important. Judges act. God is revealing in this. God's revealing that, no, he is not the kind. This is, you guys, this is really good news. He's revealing that he will not allow evil to go on indefinitely without consequence. That is so important for us. Again, we need that.

We want that. Let's go back. Think of an umpire. An umpire's job is to call balls and strikes. A good umpire calls balls, balls, calls strikes strikes. A good umpire doesn't say, hey, that was the third strike. But listen, uh, better skip back in the box. We're going to give him another, another three tries.

Like, that would be a bad umpire because at some point it's like, no, you're out. Same thing is true for a referee. If a referee is actually not calling the travels, not calling the fouls, not calling all the things, that's a bad referee. We want to be able to play the game. And so we need an up who calls balls and strikes. We need a referee who calls the fouls and calls those other things that need to be called. Think about a judge in a courtroom.

If you've been hurt, if you've been defrauded, if you've been attacked, if you've been in or people you love have been. You want a good judge and you want that judge to actually be the kind of judge who says, I will not allow evil to go on indefinitely. If we have the guilty party here,

they're going to be judged. We need, we need good umps and good referees and good judges. Even more than that, we need God to be a good judge. And for God to be a good judge,

he has to be just. For God to be a good judge. a good judge, he has to be just. Because remember, remember, God will not allow evil to go on indefinitely and he's not fickle, like, and he's not vengeful, and he's not able to be bought off. So what does Abraham say? Abraham says, are you going to sweep away the innocent with the guilty? And God makes it very, very clear. No, absolutely not. God is unwilling to make the innocent suffer for the guilty. So we have this whole, what sounds, what looks like bargaining, right? It looks like that Abraham is kind of bargaining with God. Like, okay, God, what if there's 50

innocent people? And God says, no, I won't destroy the town for those 50. And I love this because Abraham, as he keeps going on, he doesn't just kind of walk up to God and say, by the way, how about 40? What about 30? He says, things like, okay, you're God and I'm not. I get that. I am so sorry that I'm bringing this up again. What about 40? And God says, no, for the sake of the 40, it won't destroy Solomon and Gomorrah. He's like, okay, I'm taking my life in my hands now. What about 30? And he, because Abraham has the real sense that, okay, you're God, I'm not, so I'm approaching you. And here's the thing, he's not bargaining, he's not haggling. He's not convincing God not to destroy the city for the sake of 10.

He's not convincing God of anything. He's discovering how good God really is. Because God makes it absolutely clear, I will not allow evil to go on indefinitely without consequence. and at the same time, I am unwilling to make the innocent suffer for the sake of the guilty. He is a judge who is a good judge because he's absolutely just. I've heard the outcry against Saddamayamara and their sin is so great that I have to do something about this. He's made it known he hears the cry of those who are being hurt and he's a good judge so he act. and he acts fairly, justly.

Now, that can be a consolation. Hopefully, we know that God is a good judge. God is a just judge. But sometimes that can still bother us. Why? Because we've cried out to the Lord. Like, we've been hurt at times. I know so many people who are joining us.

You've suffered. You've suffered a lot. And sometimes it feels like God hasn't heard, that he hasn't acted, that he doesn't care. And so it's really easy, I think, to complain about not being heard. You know, so there's this book called the Catechism in the Catholic Church, which will actually have a Catechism in a year

starting in January 1st, 2023. Stay tuned. But the Catechism actually asked that question because the Catechism recognizes that this is a reality for every person, especially every Christian, that we cry out to the Lord. He's revealed himself to us to be a good judge, a just judge who cares about us, but sometimes we cry out and we're not heard. And so, the Catechism asks the question,

why do we complain about not being heard? And I think the answer I would say is because it hurts, because it stinks to cry out, to be in the middle of suffering and to feel like God doesn't care. But the catechism answers with an observation. And the first observation the catechism gives is this. It says, why do we complain about not being heard? First, it says, we ought to be astonished by this fact

that when we offer God praise or thanksgiving, we're not particularly concerned about whether or not our prayer is acceptable to him. And I want to pause on that for a second because I remember reading that the first time and I was like, oh, ouch. I'm looking, are they reading my diary? Because they're very, very clear

that something's going on here. When we, this is, he says, we should be astonished by this. That, you know, when we give God thanks or praise, we're like, yeah, I mean, I mean, think about this, how many things, even if your thanks or praise is genuine, like truly from the heart. Like, God, thank you so much.

This is amazing. Thank you for this gift. Or God, you are so great, you're good, you're holy, you're just, all these things. We just, we just, we just. come from the heart, but we don't necessarily have to get the words just right. But think about the last time you came to the Lord with some kind of petition, whether that was for yourself or intercession for someone else. And it was like, okay, here's what we're going to do. I can't,

I know I can pray anywhere. We're going to pray in the church. Like, I know I can pray in the back. We're going right up to the front. And I can kneel down on the kneelers, mm-mm, mm-mm, on the stone. Like, you know, because God hears it better when it's on the stone. Like, when we think about how many times people will do a novena? Novenas are great. They're super good. How many times in the middle of Novena, you're like, wait, did I do it exactly right? Did I say the words exactly how they're supposed to be said, as if like it's a magic formula or as if like God is an ATM and we just kind of punch in the right into code. If you have the cheat code, you can get all the money. Like sometimes we treat God like that. When it's a petition,

when it's an intercession, it's, okay, we need to do all the right things. But when it's Thanksgiving or praise, just like, ah, throw it up to the Lord. We should be astonished by that fact that when it comes to prayers, of praise, or Thanksgiving, we're not particularly concerned whether or not God accepts our prayers. But then it goes on to say, on the other hand, we demand to see the results of our petitions. And I recognize that's my heart. I can be relatively careless with the thanks I give God, but I demand to see the results of my petitions. And that court in the catechism goes on to ask the question, what is the image of God that motivates our prayer? Is he a Is he merely an instrument to be used, or is he the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Because again, when Jesus is asked the question or request, teach us to pray, I want to pray like you. He doesn't say how, he says, who? What is the image of God that motivates our prayer? Is he an instrument to be used? Is he the ATM? Or is he the father of our Lord Jesus Christ? And that's why Jesus, I think when he responds and he says, okay, when you pray, say like,

he kind of almost gives like a little bit of a how, but the how is, is he, he's, he in the how is embedded who? When you pray, say, Father. And we know this already, because we've said it a thousand times, but that word in Aramaic is the word Abba, which is like daddy or like Papa, but ultimately for me, in the being in 21st century America, never called my dad Papa, never called him Daddy ever.

I call my dad dad. And so Jesus is saying, okay, who are you approaching? Because who determines how? You're approaching your father. Just say, when you pray, say, dad. Because who determines how? And then say, Dad, how would it be your name? Your kingdom come.

Basically, again, you're saying, Dad, okay, we're dad, you're dad, you're close. But you are God and I am not. So this posture of humility, that's the first thing. Poster of humility. And then goes on to say, give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive those trespass against us. So whatever I need, Lord, for today, whether that's natural or supernatural, whether that's just, you know, food for the day,

whether that's forgiveness for my sins, I trust you. Now think about this is how Jesus is telling us to pray. Who are you talking to? Your dad. And so what's our posture? It's a posture of humble trust. You're God and I'm not. And everything I need for today, whether that is spiritual or natural, I trust you.

Think of how different our prayer would be if we prayed like Jesus. Think how a different our prayer would be if the one we prayed to is the one Jesus was praying to. I think in those cases we wouldn't give up. You know, that's why Jesus goes on to say. He talks about the persistent friend. We heard the parable already.

I wanted to recap it. Here's the friend. He has another friend joining him. So he goes to this neighbor, knocks on the door, go away, can't be bothered. I'm in bed. The door's locked. Everyone's sleeping.

Jesus goes on to say, if he doesn't get up and give him the food because of their friendship, he will get up and give him the food because of his persistence. Now, I think this is really interesting. Two points. One is the word for persistence that Luke uses here is this Greek word that means shamelessness. He will get up and give him the food because of his shamelessness.

His shameless persistence. Like basically, like, listen, I'm just going to keep knocking. I'm going to keep knocking. I'm not going to stop, even if it's ridiculous. That's one thing. So there's this aspect of prayer that can be shameless persistence. But the second part is, Jesus is not telling this parable to describe what it's like to talk to God.

Remember, who determines the how? Jesus is not saying, and God's just like that. God sometimes is tired and he's in bed and he can't be bothered. But if you don't give up, he'll listen and give you what you ask for. That is not what Jesus is saying. He's not saying God is just like this neighbor. He's saying, God is better than that neighbor. That's why later on in the same gospel, Jesus says,

what father among you would hand his son a snake if he asked for a fish or a scorpion if he asked for an egg if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your kids how much more will the father your dad in heaven give the holy spirit to anyone who asks to jesus is contrasting this neighbor who can't be bothered this neighbor who's too tired but who will give in if you persist jesus is contrasting the father who will give good gifts with the father in heaven who hears our prayers before we even know them hears our prayers before we even ask. We don't have to convince God to do what we want.

We don't have to convince God to be good. He already is good. We don't have to convince God to give us good things. He already is good. Who determines the how? So yes, we're called to persist. We're called to have this shameless persistence. This kind of prayer, because he says, what is it?

He says, ask, seek, and knock. Again, in English, the second part of this is in English, it says ask, seek knock. in the original Greek that Luke was writing in, it's keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. There's a sense of, even if it seems like we're not being heard, even if it seems like God is not moving, just keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. But how are you doing that?

Trying to wake up a God who can't be bothered? No. How is guided by the who. And so as we keep asking and keep seeking, keep knocking, we're like, the one I'm asking already loves me. What you're seeking for, he already wills for you. The one on whose door you're knocking, he already knows your need. So that shameless persistence is not trying to convince God to give you something he doesn't

want to give you. He is already good. He already wants to give you the best. So the question, of course, comes up, well, what do I do in the midst of that? knocking, praying, shameless persistence. And the answer is, we trust. Why? Well, for one reason, there's a man named Evegris Ponticus.

Fancy name. I know a bunch of you will name your kids that after this. Evagius Ponticus, he had mentioned in the early church, he said, do not be troubled, because we're troubled by this. He says, do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask him. For he desires to do something greater for you, you cling to him in prayer. When Jesus says, keep seeking, keep asking, keep knocking, one of the things he's inviting us to do is keep clinging to him in prayer. God desires to do

something greater in us that he couldn't do without this time of persistence, that he couldn't do without this time of shamelessness, that he couldn't do without this time of where we continue to trust him when it seems like there's no answers. That's one of the reasons why people say prayer doesn't change God, it changes us, which is actually pretty true. Prayer does not change God. If prayer changed God to give us something good, that would mean he wasn't initially good, but he is already good. So prayer does change us. It helps us grow in filial trust, helps us grow in that trust as sons and daughters for our dad. But isn't prayer not do anything? The catechism goes on to say, prayer is efficacious. Like prayer actually does something. Doesn't just change us,

but there's actually a consequence. There's something that does. You know, people would ask the question. You keep saying, Father, that God's already good. He already wants to give you the good thing. So why even pray? And I love this because C.S. Lewis points us out. He says, yes, God, of course, God wants the good for you.

So maybe we don't need to ask because he already wants to give it to us. But think about none of us live like that, meaning he gives the example. He says, well, if you were convinced that God wanted you to eat today, you wouldn't just sit waiting around for, well, God's going to bring me food today. If he wants me to eat, he'll bring me food. If he doesn't, then he must mean he wants me to starve today. You wouldn't. You get out, get up, get outside, go to work, or get some food and heat it yourself.

If it's raining outside, you wouldn't just walk outside saying, well, if God wants me to stay dry, he'll make the rain fall around me. No, you get an umbrella and you actually use the umbrella. Similarly, we don't say, well, if God wants the good for this petitioner, this intercession, he'll just do it. You'd say, oh, he wants me to participate with him, because that's the key. This is the secret. This is the heart of petitionary prayer or intercessory prayer.

If God, who's good, it's already going to do the good, then why should I pray? Because the God who is good does not want to do the good without you. Which is remarkable. It's incredible. I always use the example of this green shed. It's this green shed in the backyard of my parents' house. My dad wanted the shed built. Actually, sorry, my mom wanted the shed built.

So my dad was going to build the shed. My dad probably could have built this shed in a day. But it took us over a week. And the reason why it took us over a week is because it took us over a week. He could have done it on his own in a day, but he didn't want to do it alone. He wanted to do it with the kids. And so all day, for a week, he would have us outside doing the various tasks to build this relatively large wooden shed.

What could have taken him, again, a fraction of the time? He was unwilling to do because he wanted to do it with us. He wanted us to be able to participate with it. Now, what, this is so fascinating. What happened in that time? I look back now and realize, why would my dad want to build this shed in seven times the time it would take? Well, one is they give us an opportunity to have time with him.

And he wanted that time with us. Even more, it gave him the opportunity to work with us. There's something really unique about not just spending time with someone, but working with them, like shoulder to shoulder with us. someone you get closer to them you get to know them better and that's the big key that's the third thing is in working shoulder to shoulder and spending that time with each other that we not only become not only able to to know them better but we become like them I literally right now if I'm ever on a working on a little

project I remember that week of building that shed and how I still have the same really really bad habits when it comes building sheds that I bring with me to almost every single project because I've become like my father because we participated. We did this thing together. And same is true for God. When it comes to a petitionary prayer, when it comes to that intercessory prayer, he could do it on his own, but he doesn't want to do it on his own. He wants to do it with us so we could spend time with him so we could work shoulder to shoulder with him and so that we would become like him. God is saying, again, I want this to be done, but I don't want to do without you.

I want you to become like me. And this, again, this is the last thing. This is maybe one of the most important aspects of prayer, maybe one of the most important goals of prayer to become like him. So the disciple says, Jesus, Lord, I want to pray. Teach us how to pray like you pray. I want to pray like you pray. And Jesus reveals, who is the disciples.

who determines the how. If you have a father you can trust, if a God you can have humble trust before, you can pray like Jesus. How did Jesus pray in the worst moment of his life in the garden of Githemite? He had humble trust where he's able to say, dad, I don't want this to happen but not my will, your will be done. I think it's remarkable that in today's gospel out of all of the various how is to pray all the different ways to pray, the most important thing to remember is who we are praying to. Jesus tells us how by telling us who, because the who determines the how.