💖 HOMILY - OCTOBER 11 💖

First Reading - Jonah 4:1-11

Gospel - Luke 11:1-4

Prayer has a highly theological meaning to a simpler meaning. Prayer is defined by many differently. What actually prayer is? Today the readings invite us to look into our understanding and definition of prayer, does it help us to relate to God or remains shallow and at the peripheral? 

The first reading mirrors a merciful face of God. The mercy of God is humorously depicted in the story. The dialogue between God and Jonah has a tinge of mockery for Jews in the anger of Jonah. Jonah expected a tragic end for Nenvites but God reversed it by showing them His mercy and this aroused the anger of Jonah. God, through the dialogue with angry Jonah, tries to show that He desires the repentance of the people rather than destruction of them. He cares for them. This He teaches with a demonstration of a plant which gives shade to Jonah but shortly withers. This also angers Jonah but God teaches him a lesson through it that the plant was not the result of his hard work still he was angry for its withering how much more should He feel for the people who are his creation? The lesson for Jonah is tinted with abounding mercy of God.

The pericope of the gospel shows, how we are to pray. One of the themes in the gospel of Luke is prayer. Jesus is seen in prayer at various occasions. In today's reading, he is spotted praying. In Luke’s prayer of 'Our Father' Jesus taught the disciples slightly shorter version than the version in Matthew. It is perhaps more likely that Matthew expanded and explained the prayer rather than that Luke shortened it. This version of the prayer begins with the simple call ‘Father’, rather than ‘Our Father in heaven’, a noble and affectionate simplicity. It is the way Jesus himself addressed his Father; it expresses not baby-love (‘daddy’) but a warm adult relationship. ‘Thy will be done’ does not occur in Luke’s version, for it is Matthew who often insists on doing the will of the Father. Instead of ‘give us this day our daily bread’ Luke gives the insistent ‘give us each day’, which stresses the continuity of our dependence on God. Luke’s version also asks for forgiveness of ‘sins’ rather than of ‘debts’; perhaps to Luke’s gentile audience ‘debts’ would have seemed too narrowly financial. 

The main emphasis of the prayer, as taught by Jesus in the gospel, is that our prayer should be that of a relationship like a son or daughter with his/her father. The prayer should be the most affectionate moment for an individual. It's because a son or daughter stands in the presence of the father who is all-loving and merciful.

Dear friends, we do pray but does it evoke an affectionate feeling? This may be misunderstood by emotionalism but it's more than emotionalism. It's affection. Our God is all-loving and merciful. The mercy of God is at the center of His heart, provided we appropriate it by our constant turning to Him and approaching Him like a son or daughter.

There is an assurance in the prayer taught by Jesus that God will ensure our concerns but it also demands that our attitude and relationship should be also good with one another. The mercy and goodness of God should be reciprocated by our relationship with one another. It means just as we devote our time in prayer, so also we should devote our time in building a harmonious relationship with one another. Hence, prayer must be lived in the company of one another. Prayer confined only to the church or chapel but not extended to our fellow beings is shallow and without depth. Let's break open narrow confines of our prayer life. Let's not be hesitant to approach God our Father in prayer affectionately and live our prayer in our daily lives by building harmonious relationship with one another.