{"id":432,"date":"2013-10-27T15:32:02","date_gmt":"2013-10-27T20:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=432"},"modified":"2013-10-29T15:34:26","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T20:34:26","slug":"true-prayer-takes-humility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=432","title":{"rendered":"True Prayer Takes Humility"},"content":{"rendered":"

30th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/h2>\n

Sir 35: 12-14; 2 Tim 4: 6-8, 16-18: Luke 18: 9-14<\/h2>\n

Dc. Larry Brockman<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Recently, someone sent me one of those internet jokes about prayer.\u00a0 It seems a Grizzly bear was chasing a man, and got very close to him.\u00a0 The Man was an atheist, but as the bear got closer and closer, the man called out \u201cGod, help me\u201d.\u00a0 All of a sudden, time froze, a light shown down from the heavens.\u00a0 And then a voice from the heavens said:\u00a0 \u201cAfter denying that I exist all these years and teaching others the same, all of a sudden you call out my name and ask me for my help.\u201d\u00a0 So, do you believe in me now?\u201d\u00a0 The atheist looked directly into the light and said:\u00a0 “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now.\u00a0 But perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?”\u00a0 “Very well,” said the voice. \u00a0The light went out; the bear dropped his right arm, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke:\u00a0 \u201cLord, bless this food, which I am about to receive. Amen”<\/p>\n

All kidding aside, the atheist in our story still has a problem, doesn\u2019t he?\u00a0 It was very subtle, but he was still arrogant.\u00a0 There was no humility in him; just a sense of personal pride and control which he held on to even when he was in dire straits, and even when God hit him over the head with a lightning bolt and gave him the chance of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Few of us are blessed with such a direct message from God.\u00a0 But all of us are faced with the same dilemma. \u00a0We find ourselves in a fix and pray to God for help and wonder why our prayer is not answered the way we want it to be answered.\u00a0 But the question really is this: what is the attitude in our hearts when we pray?\u00a0 Do we really have Faith in the God we are praying to?\u00a0 Are we willing to accept what He has to say to us?\u00a0 And are we humble, like the tax collector in the Gospel story, understanding that we owe everything we have to God, yes, we owe absolutely everything to God and God alone.\u00a0 Or are we like the Pharisee, the self-made man who has been successful with God\u2019s talents.\u00a0 He even tries, and succeeds, at following all the rules, too and does all the \u201cright\u201d things.<\/p>\n

Speaking for myself, I think it is extremely tough to be truly humble in the way the Lord is asking especially, the better off we are in this world.\u00a0 Because we come to believe that we have somehow earned our comfort and sense of control with hard work and success. \u00a0But the thing is, we are never ever done being stewards of the Lord\u2019s gifts.\u00a0 You see, most of the downtrodden have a different view when they pray.\u00a0 They know who they are, just an average sinner who stands before God with all his limitations and faults.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t worried about maintaining their own fortunes; and they aren\u2019t deceiving themselves by thinking they are in control.\u00a0 They know better- God is in control.\u00a0 And so, as Sirach so accurately says:\u00a0 \u201cThe one who serves God willingly is heard\u201d, and\u00a0 \u201cThe prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds\u201d.\u00a0 Because the lowly are open to God\u2019s will, justice, mercy, and providence on God\u2019s terms whereas those who are blessed in this world think they are under control, and so, they have an agenda.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s times, this might be the Pharisee\u2019s prayer by today\u2019s folks:\u00a0 \u201cLord, I go to Mass each week, \u00a0always put an envelope in the basket; I don\u2019t cheat the Government on my taxes, I worked all my life for a living; I saw to it my kids were taught about God; and I even changed my grandchildren\u2019s diapers.\u00a0 I\u2019m not like that lady over there on the EBT stamps, or all those people who never go to Church at all.\u00a0 But now, Lord, I am suffering and I need your help.\u00a0 And so please, cure me of the back pain or cancer or loneliness, or whatever else it is that ails me so I can enjoy life now after having obeyed your commands all these years\u201d.\u00a0 The problem is that such a person is fixed on themselves, and not God in such a prayer.<\/p>\n

You know, God always answers our prayers.\u00a0 But we may not always hear His answer if we are preoccupied with the answer we want rather than the answer He has in mind for us.\u00a0 God is always teaching us new things; it is never too late to learn from Him.\u00a0 And so, learn to let go a little by putting aside your expectations and wants.\u00a0 Rather, listen, feel, and sense God\u2019s answer to you.\u00a0 It will be yes, no, or not now.\u00a0 But always know, that whatever it is, as our Psalm says:\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and those who are crushed in spirit He saves.\u00a0 The Lord redeems the Lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in Him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 35: 12-14; 2 Tim 4: 6-8, 16-18: Luke 18: 9-14 Dc. Larry Brockman   Recently, someone sent me one of those internet jokes about prayer.\u00a0 It seems a Grizzly bear was chasing a man, and got very close to him.\u00a0 The Man was an atheist, but as the bear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[249],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=432"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":433,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432\/revisions\/433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}