Homily -- 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 16, 2022 -- Msgr. Joseph K. Ntuwa • October 16, 2022

Homily, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 16, 2022 -- Msgr. Joseph K. Ntuwa

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Readings: Ex 17:8–13 ; 2 Tm 3:14–4:2; Lk 18:1–

"Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth!" That's the response to today's psalm. Do we mean it? And if so, what do we mean by it?

The past few weeks, we have reflected about Christian virtues such as faith, generosity, charity, and gratitude. Today we focus on persistence in prayer. While that may seem obvious to those who regularly come to Church, the Lord nevertheless wants us to know that we can count on being heard if we maintain a constant connection to God.

Normally, in our reflective moments we sense the importance of prayer; yet there are times we struggle to pray. When we pray, sometimes we walk on water and other times we sink like a stone. Sometimes we have a deep sense of God's reality and other times we can't even imagine that God exists. Sometimes we have deep feelings about God's goodness and love; other times we feel only boredom and distraction. Sometimes our eyes fill with tears in deep prayer while other times they wander to our wristwatches to see how much time we still need to spend in prayer. Sometimes we would like to stay in our palace of prayer forever and other times we wonder why we even showed up. Sustained, deep prayer does not come easy for many of us.

Time and again, we read in the Old Testament how God´s people are saved by their confidence in the Lord. For instance, the case of plagues that obtained Israel´s liberation from slavery in Egypt and the destruction of the Egyptian army when they tried to overtake Israel during the crossing of the Red Sea. In today’s first reading, it is about the defeat of the Amalekites. Their victory is attributed to God through the intercessory prayer of Moses.

In the gospel passage, Jesus is conscious of the tendency of believers to give up on prayer if there are no immediate results. As he does so on many occasions, Jesus employs imagination to come up with a parable that teaches the lesson "about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.”. He presents the worst-case scenario of an unjust judge, from whom a poor helpless widow needs to obtain a favor. Being a widow –one of the most vulnerable categories of persons of the time– with no lawyer to represent her, she has little chance of obtaining what she desires. However, because of her unremitting petitions, she obtains justice.

Through the parable, Jesus is not comparing God to the evil judge, suggesting that God answers prayers only to avoid being further bothered. Rather, Jesus is telling us that if even an evil judge eventually gave in to the cry of an insignificant widow, how much more will God, a loving Father listen to the cry of His children, whom He created in His image and likeness!

Prayer is not about persuading God to do what we want; however noble it may be; it is about inviting God to mold us in faith into what he wants for us. Prayer is at the heart of our relationship with the God. Life teaches us that any worthwhile relationship can never be taken for granted. Our relationships are sustained by a generous attentiveness to the other. And in our relationship with God such attentiveness is prayer, an openness that is centered on God, rather than on our own preoccupations.

In a pragmatic culture that demands quick and preferably easy solutions to every problem, we may find it difficult to recognizes the steady, patient, ever-active and surprising work of God. We usually seek surface and instant results; God transforms the depths that define the surface. While no one likes difficulty, it is often through our persistence in the face of obstacles that we grow and mature. In midst of tough times, God is present with grace, wisdom, and strength. May we call upon the Lord as we face our challenges with persistence. ###

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Homily July 27, 2025

July 29, 2025

17 th Sunday of the Year C Gen 18:20-32; Col 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13 Have you ever had conversations with people who have expressed a distaste for many of the beliefs and practices of organized religion ? Sometimes these criticisms come from people who have had “bad” religious experiences in their own families or have seen what they feel is an ugly side of faith. I understand that. Some others have been hurt and disappointed by the common failings and faults of some of the faithful in the pews. Many others have been particularly crushed by the serious sins of Church leadership. Yet, there are others who simply are trying to be intellectually honest --- people who have truly wrestled with some of the big questions of life and faith and have been relatively unsatisfied with the “answers” religion provides. They “want” to believe at some level but just find too many obstacles. And sometimes that “obstacle” is the image of God presented to them. One particular element of Christianity that I hear criticized so often is the way we seem to ask God for things over and over again. Many people assert that they just, don’t understand why it needs to be this way! They argue: God knows everything. God knows exactly what we need (and want). So why do we need to ask? God has infinite power . There are no limits to what he can do. We don’t have to try to get his “attention” because he is “busy” elsewhere. So why do we need to ask? God is immutable --- which means, unchanging and unchangeable . That means we kind of diminish God if we think we can somehow “ change” his mind. So why bother to pray if God has already written the script? Well, today, in both our First Reading and Gospel passage, we hear examples illustrating the power of pleading with God. In the story from Genesis, we see Abraham “bartering” with God --- seeing if he can somehow get the best “deal” possible. Apparently, Abraham is wise enough to not ask for everything all at once, as if he’s using his charm to coax God’s mercy out of him. God goes along with each of his requests. And in the Gospel passage from Luke --- Jesus tells a story about a man banging on his friend’s door at midnight trying to get some bread for an unexpected guest. The friend initially refuses, but then gets worn down from the persistence of the man and gives in. After relating that story, Jesus utters these “famous” words, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” So, what gives? Do we have to “beg” God to get his blessings or does God actually withhold good things from us until we “wear him down”? Do we have to be expert negotiators, or charmers? Dear friends, an authentic spiritual life is about none of those things. It’s about a relationship supported, strengthened and transformed in part by a holy conversation --- what we call the divine conversation. This is a conversation that has no beginning and no ending, but rather is one that has been continual from the very dawn of time --- a sacred conversation which enables channels of grace to remain open within every single person --- a kind of listening and speaking that helps each of us remain open to an outpouring of God’s life which has the power to change absolutely everything. And so, we bring our needs to our God because we believe he loves us more than we can imagine, because we trust in his wisdom and power, because we need to put into words the deepest longings of our hearts. And maybe most importantly --- we ask, seek, and knock simply because it opens us up to every good thing God wants for us (and from us). Prayer encourages dependence on God and today’s parable shows us perseverance. We do not “keep knocking” because God isn’t aware of our needs but, rather, because we need to remain constantly aware of our daily need for him – our daily bread. Whenever we turn to God in prayer, we put our minds and hearts in contact with the very source of life and truth. And that refreshes the human soul, just as rebooting your computer refreshes the software that makes the computer run. When stress, discouragement, and frustration start to clog our circuits, we don't need to jack up the voltage by working more hours or by distracting ourselves with even more exciting entertainment; no, we need to reboot, we need to pray with perseverance. When you pray say” “Behold, I am your servant, do with and in and through me according to your will” In happy moments, seek God, in hard moments praise God, in quiet moments, trust God, in every moment, thank God. Lord Jesus, teach us to pray.

Homily -- 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time