Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time C
Many of you know Fr. Scott Fobare and Fr. Scott Seymour,
both
of whom served here in Malone in years past.
(When
they’re out somewhere together,
they
like to joke about one being Fr. Scott the Greater
and
the other being Fr. Scott the Lesser…
…but
there’s always debate about which is which.)
These
two priests are just back from leading a pilgrimage to Rome,
and
only a few weeks before their departure
did
they get word that they would have the opportunity
to
concelebrate morning Mass with Pope Francis.
What
a treat it was to see them in a video online,
sitting
right there in the front row of the chapel
at
the guest house where the Holy Father resides.
At
first I saw them and thought, “My, they look serious and pious!”
(That’s
not how I’m used to seeing them.)
And
then I realized what was really going on:
the
Pope was preaching in Italian,
and
they had absolutely no idea what he was talking about…
It’s
really too bad they couldn’t understand
the
Pope’s homily that morning,
because
his words that day were particularly powerful:
And
we ourselves, when we don’t pray,
what
we’re doing is closing the door to the Lord.
And
not praying is this:
closing
the door to the Lord,
so
that He can do nothing.
On
the other hand, prayer,
in
the face of a problem,
a
difficult situation, a calamity,
is
opening the door to the Lord
so
that He will come.
So
that He builds things,
He
knows to arrange things, to reorganize things.
This
is what praying is:
opening
the door to the Lord,
so
that he can do something.” (10/8/13)
when
Fr. Tom and I are preaching about prayer.
We’ve
talked about preparing to pray.
We’ve
talked about how to pray.
And
now it’s time to talk about why we pray.
It
rather simple:
we
pray because prayer will change your life.
Let’s
take a look at Zacchaeus:
that
little man with the big bank account
who’s
up in a sycamore tree.
Climbing trees is for young boys,
not grown men of prominence.
Climbing trees is for young boys,
not grown men of prominence.
but
to look foolish in front of others
just
to sneak a peek at Jesus.
And
what a thrill it must have been for him
to
hear Jesus call him by name!
The
one about whom Zacchaeus is so curious
takes
a very personal interest in him.
And
what does Jesus say?
“Today
I must stay at your house!”
So
Zacchaeus opens the door to Jesus…
…and
that changes everything for him.
If
you’re driving by Notre Dame rectory at night
in
a few of the third floor windows, don’t worry:it’s
not because Fr. Stitt is up there playing with matches again;
it’s
because, with Bishop LaValley’s permission,
we’ve
taken one of the spare rooms in that big old house
and
turned it into a simple little chapel.
It
just happens to be directly above my bedroom.
I
can now lie in bed, look up at the ceiling,
and
think, “Jesus is right there!”
The
words of the Mass have taken on
a
new and deeper meaning for me:
Lord, I am not worthy
I’m
well aware that it’s an extraordinary privilege
to
have the Most Blessed Sacrament reserved in our home—
and
it’s one I won’t take for granted.
But
no matter where we live,
we
are all able to open the door to the Lord
and
invite Jesus in.
He
wants to stay with us today—
as
he did with Jericho’s chief tax collector—
at
home and at school, at work and in the car.
Jesus
stands ready to enter in
wherever
and whenever we would pray.
Why
do we pray?
Sometimes
it’s because we have an urgent request to make—
whether
for ourselves or on behalf of another—
like
the persistent widow in the parable two weeks ago.
Sometimes
we pray because we’ve screwed up
and
need to repent of our sins—
like
the tax collector in the temple last Sunday.
And sometimes
we pray because we realize the
huge debt
of gratitude, adoration, and praise we owe the Lord
of gratitude, adoration, and praise we owe the Lord
for
all the good he’s done for us—
like
Zacchaeus, who lays his entire life and livelihood at Jesus’ feet.
Regardless
of the particular circumstances,
to “opening
the door to the Lord, so that he can do something.”
There
are as many different ways to pray
as
there are different people who do it.
The
only way to do it wrong is not to pray at all.
So
make a decision to pray.
Speak
to the Lord from your heart.
Open
the door to welcome God in.
And
then watch—watch very carefully—
because your life will change.
because your life will change.
No comments:
Post a Comment