Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time
LUKE 11:1-13
The Gospels of Mark and Matthew each depict Jesus at prayer three times. Luke's gospel depicts Jesus at prayer eight times. This may indicate that Luke himself was a man of prayer. On this occasion Luke begins, "He (Jesus) was praying in a certain place...." His disciples respected Jesus' time for communicating with his Father. Then they approached Jesus and said, 'Teach us to pray like John taught his disciples." Such is the introduction Luke gives to a prayer which occurs in a similar but longer form in Matthew's gospel. In Matthew's gospel the prayer begins with the words by which it is known to us, "Our Father." Luke begins with a more direct address, not "Our Father" but simply "Father."
There is another form of this prayer in a late first century Christian guidebook called in the Greek in which it was written, 'The Didache,^ (The Teaching). It is closer to the version of Matthew. Christians were directed to recite this prayer three times a day. A Jewish prayer, the Kaddish, is similar and was already in use in some form in the first century of the Christian era. The chief theme of the Kaddish is the holiness of God's name and the wish that it be known and hallowed. One clause calls for the establishment of the kingdom of God. The Kaddish ends with a petition for peace. Whatever form this prayer was from the mouth of Jesus, Luke better reflects the custom of Jesus addressing his Father directly as "Abba." Romans 8:15-17, teaches that we too may address God as "Abba" because we have received the "Spirit ofsonship," that the same Spirit that lived in Jesus bears witness that we are children ofGod, "heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ...."
Luke's introduction to Jesus9 prayer, cited above, is quite a contrast to Matthew9 s introduction to the Our Father. It is part of Matthew's Sermon on the Mountain. "In praying, do not heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this...." The first part of both versions, Matthew and Luke, concentrates on honoring the Father by "hallowing" (treating as holy) his Name, and a petition for the establishment of God's kingdom. True to experience and the inclinations of human nature, Jesus and the gospels teach us to approach our benefactor with a form of sweet talk, thus to soften any opposition we might encounter to our requests.
The second part of the prayer is the "Gimme" part. Special to Luke is the request for daily bread. Luke's gospel is the gospel of the poor. The request for daily bread is perhaps more accurately translated in Luke's version as "bread for tomorrow." It begs the Father to provide enough food not just today, but for that one extra day, tomorrow, so that the petitioner may be freed from the daily distress of the poor wondering, "What will we eat tomorrow?" There is a petition that God forgive our sins, but that petition is provisional or conditional on whether or not we have forgiven those who offend us. "Do not subject us to the final test," is more explicit in Luke's version of Jesus' last discourse. It is a prayer to escape the dangers of falling away at the end of time or at the end of our life, "But watch at all times, that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man."
Luke adds a parable of Jesus about perseverance in prayer. A man comes to the home of his neighbor at midnight and asks for bread to feed a lately arrived guest. The neighbor refuses to help because he and his family are already in bed. But the man persists in his quest. In exasperation his neighbor gets out of bed and gives him the bread requested. Thus Luke teaches us to hassle God until our petitions are granted. Luke seems to say, "Trust me. It's easy!" "Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened." For everyone who asks receives, etc". Has this been our experience? An easy answer from James 4:3, "You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." That answer may apply in some cases, but not in all. Perhaps it is better to say that God, "who gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him,'7 will also take care of us in ways we cannot now know.
GENESIS 18:20-32
This ancient story depicts God as very human-like. The Lord hears much noise coming from Sodom and Gomorrah.. has heard about their grave sins, and decides to go down and investigate whether rumors are true, "I mean to find out." He decides to destroy the two cities, but meets an obstacle. Abraham knows God's intentions. He appeals to God's mercy and the effect the destruction would have on God's reputation for fairness, since there are also good people living in those cities. The resulting debate between the Lord and Abraham determined the choice of this reading to accompany today's gospel.
COLOSSIANS 2:12-14
Paul addresses Gentile converts. Even though they did not bear the sign of the covenant, male circumcision. God forgave their sins symbolized by their uncircumcision. Copies of the invoice stating what they owed God were nailed to the cross of Jesus, and cancelled.
