Homily: Eleventh Thursday of Ordinary Time

Eleventh Thursday of Ordinary Time (Mt 6:7-15) “Don’t Talk Too Much”

Many religions have prescribed prayer. The Jews had many prayers for different occasions. For instance, when they would light their lamps at night they would pray. When they extinguished them before they went to bed they would pray.

There were prayers for mealtimes. There would be prayers when one entered or left the city and when a Jew would enter and leave their home. Also, there were prayers for different parts of the day like morning, noon and night.

The thought behind this was a comforting one. God touched every part of a person’s life. Even the most mundane things could be holy. The prayers were not just spontaneous, but they were rote prayers with specific words.

The danger was that the words would become routine. And the words would be rushed and not carefully spoken. This is a danger in every religion. Sometimes as a priest I can rush through the Mass prayers. This comes with familiarity with the rite and words and with fatigue. It takes an effort to remain in the moment and to converse with God.

The Jews also believed prayers in the temple were more effective. The synagogue was also a preferred place of prayer. Faithful Jews could go to temple to be seen. All religions have their special places of prayer.

At the present times many Muslims are traveling to Mecca to pray. This is a once in a lifetime experience. I was struck by the fact that this year over 500 pilgrims have died of heat stroke. The temperatures currently are deadly at Mecca. We can get carried away with our religious practices. Jesus says holiness has to do with moderation and with common sense. If this is not the case, then religious people can project the wrong message to those who do not have faith.

Reflection Questions:

1.    Do more words mean better prayer? Why or why not?

2.    Do I value silence? Is God in silence?

Dear Parishioners,

        We will be having the parking lot around the junior high building sealed on Friday. It will be striped on Saturday. There is a lot of maintenance that must be done every day on our campus.

            We just had new exit lights installed in the church and in Culemans Hall. Our offertory collections support this work. Our parish needs your help. The cost of repairs continues to rise.

            Thanks to all who are continuing to support our His Heart our Hands offertory initiative. Everyone benefits when we support our parish.

            May Our Lady of Peace Pray for Us,

            Fr. Mark