DAILY HOMILIES #prayer

It is not possible for us to understand everything about God. Like the Holy Eucharist, there are still so many things about God that remain mysteries to us. No matter how high the temptation may be for you to walk away from God, let us remember that the best is yet to come. God has not changed and will never change a bit. Just hold on. Don’t quit on God. For his steadfastness to endure when he didn’t understand, Peter would go on to become a great instrument in God’s hands.

Stephen had the right attitude to Christianity. He was prepared to deny himself and carry his cross after Jesus. He was not simply there for material prosperity, he did not set out to work for bread that perishes. He set his gaze on heaven. Stephen had the chance to compromise, he had the chance to deny Jesus or run for his life but he stood his ground to the end. Do not only ask what God is doing for you but also ask what you are doing for God.

Do you feel like abandoning your faith because it has become too difficult for you to continue practicing Christian virtues (keeping the commandments of God)? Reflect on St. Paul’s words in today’s second reading. Jesus obeyed even to the point of accepting death but today, the name of Jesus is above every name in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess and Jesus Christ is God. Obedience to God might be difficult but the reward is worth more than all the sacrifices.

Luke tells us that Jesus told a “parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.” (Luke 18:9) One of the symptoms of pride is trusting in ourselves rather than in God, forgetting that our righteousness is a product of grace, not personal efforts.

Like the children of Israel who called out to God in prayer when they were suffering in the hands of the Egyptians, the key to fighting sin is prayer. Jesus said: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8). If asking has to do with praying, seeking has to do with making efforts. Yes, God is interested in the efforts you are making

Prayer is a dialogue, it is only complete when we can listen and hear from God after we have spoken to Him. Prayer teaches us obedience. God says: “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to Him.” The more prayerful we become, the more we are most likely enabled to obey the commandments of God.

The Israelites allowed their hunger to get into them. They said they wished they had died in the hands of the Egyptians. They quickly forgot what God had done for them in the past. When we pray, it is important to remind ourselves of what God has done, Jesus taught us to start our prayer with praise.

Prayer is not just about asking, it also involves doing. Jesus makes clear the point: “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Lent invites us to conversion, to a change in mindset, so that life’s truth and beauty may be found not so much in possessing as in giving, not so much in accumulating as in sowing and sharing goodness.

God listens to all but that of a righteous man, that of an innocent child, that of a pure heart is different! In fact, as Jesus said: “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

The saying goes that the road to success is never a smooth ride but an untarred road marred by so many pot-holes called “failure”, our safe arrival depends on our ability to keep going no matter how many times we fail.

Prayer is not magic, learn to give God the glory He deserves. Let it not be that you only remember God when you need something from Him. Worship God in season and out of season, do not make the mistake of Hophni and Phineas.