Homily: Twenty-seventh Thursday of Ordinary Time

Twenty-seventh Thursday of Ordinary Time (Lk 11:3-13) “Just Ask”

Why doesn’t God answer my prayer? How often do people ask this question? After Jesus gives his disciples the words of the Our Father, he tells them that prayer will not go unheeded.

We know that God does not necessarily always answer our prayers the way we might want. But we believe that God always hears our prayers.

Jesus speaks of God as a wonderful parent. A parent does not want to harm their children. God does not want us to be hurt. We might ask why bad things happen to good people? No answer that I have ever heard that question is completely satisfactory.

We must be careful that we don’t offer some kind of cliché to this question. Many times, we might hear someone say after a bad incident in life. “Well, I guess it was God’s will and we just have to accept it, if we have faith.”

The Jewish people would not have felt this way in Old Testament times. There was a sense that we don’t have to accept things stoically. We have the right to complain to God if we feel something is unfair. If God is a heavenly parent God will listen patiently. We, on the other hand, may be impatient because we want our pain or grief or other negative feelings to go away.

We may, in time, come to see misfortune in an alternative light. I was visiting with a woman in a nursing home recently. She was a widow. She shared with me how her husband had died at a young age. She also told me about the death of her daughter. She seemed to have accepted her crosses with serenity. She punctuated her story praising God for the beauty of the day and for the blessings she had enjoyed in life. Her faith had deepened despite her struggles. I did not console her, she consoled me. She trusted God implicitly.

Reflection Questions:

1.    Do I wonder if God answers prayer? Why do I?

2.   Have I ever misread a disappointment in life? How?

Dear Parishioners,      

        We will be having a ministry fair at the end of this month. We will be offering people the opportunity to get involved at Sacred Heart. One ministry that we need volunteers for is the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.

            I had hoped to return to the practice of offering the cup at all the Masses, but we can’t do that unless parishioners step forward to be Extraordinary Ministers. We have the same tried and true people serving at most Masses. Can you help? If you are attending Mass anyway this should be easy.  We especially need ministers at our 9:15 Mass right now. Call our office and we will try to get you started.

            May Our Lady pray for those who are suffering because of the hurricane in Florida,

            Fr. Mark