Does Jesus mean what he said? (17.C)

 

This is a dangerous Gospel—a very dangerous teaching. It’s as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar, but many ships have run aground there.

The dangerous thing about today’s Gospel is this: every single person in this church knows it isn’t true.

Each of us has prayed for something or someone and not received what we asked for. We have searched, and not found. We have knocked, and the door stayed shut.

So, if we take what Jesus says at face value we are in trouble.

And often enough we do. People tell me their faith is shaken by unanswered prayers. Even as a parish we pray for people to recover from illness but they die.

How can we understand the words of Jesus as true, despite our own experiences?

The answer to this question must be rock solid unless we just want to overlook our Lord’s teaching on petitionary prayer.

The philosopher Peter Kreeft gives a pretty good answer rooted in both faith and logic.*

He says the only possible reason why we don’t get exactly what we ask for is that God knows what we need better than we do. It’s not because God doesn’t hear us. It’s not because God doesn’t love us. It’s certainly not because he doesn’t have the power to give us what we ask for.

(By the way, after I preached this homily for the first time a very wise elderly parishioner spoke with me at the back of the church and reminded me that many of our prayers are indeed answered as requested! A good point, reinforced a few minutes later by a much younger parishioner who said “I did get 95 on the math exam that I asked you to pray for!”)

The only way to understand what Jesus says is to believe that God knows much better than we do what we really need and what will be the very best thing for us in the end.

Does that make sense to you? It’s a straightforward argument. But things get a bit tricky when we try to use that argument in real life. Because what we really need and what will be the best thing for us in the end includes suffering.

A philosopher’s argument about God’s providence is not enough to heal the doubts we have when desperate prayers aren’t answered. We need more.

Only in relationship to God—only in prayerful conversation with him—can our  hearts accept that he really does want what is best for us, especially when that involves suffering.

Only by trusting him the way children trust their parents can we live fully the truth that Dr. Kreeft explains. And we find the key to that trust in my all-time favourite Bible verse, Romans 8:28, where St. Paul tells us that all things work together for good to those who love God.

As I’ve said before “all things” includes bad things.

I don’t know about you, but I pray all the time to avoid bad things. I pray for parishioners, family, and friends to get well, to find jobs, and even to pass exams. It has taken many years of so-called unanswered prayers and many conversations with God for me to accept that what Jesus says about asking and receiving, searching and finding is true.

And that our Heavenly Father does hear our persistent prayers, every time.

There is much more to be said about this morning’s Gospel, but I think these basic points are enough for us to consider. I would like to end by sharing what Pope Francis said during his flight to Canada this morning.

Despite all that’s on his mind about his “penitential pilgrimage” to our country, the Holy Father spoke with the journalists on his plane about the World Day for Grandparents and Elderly we are celebrating this Sunday. Obviously, this day of prayer for our grandparents and the elderly is very important to him.

He called them “the link between generations, passing on the experience of life and faith to the young.”

“Young people,” the Pope said, “must have contact with their grandparents, go back to them, go back to their roots,” emphasizing how grandparents are responsible for helping future generations blossom and mature.

Pope Francis reminded us that each one of us has grandparents, whether alive or dead. He said let us remember them today in a special way, since from them we have received so many things, our own history first of all.

In his remarks, of course, he did not forget the purpose of his trip. The Holy Father also noted that this Apostolic Journey demands special attention and  a special “spirit” since it is a penitential pilgrimage to show his closeness to the Indigenous who have suffered.

So at Mass today we join the Pope in both his intentions: reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations and appreciation and gratitude for our grandparents and elders.

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* Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings, Cycle C, page 513-514.