Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time: Praying for justice and mercy

Lectionary Readings:

• Genesis 18:20-32. Abraham argues with God not to destroy the wicked cities, if fifty and eventually if only ten just persons are found in them.
• Colossians 2:12-14.The gentiles, though non-observant of the Jewish law and helplessly dead in their sins, were raised to new life in Christ’s resurrection. The decree against us was nailed to the cross.
• Luke 11:1-13. Jesus teaches the Our Father and persistency in prayer. Ask and you shall receive.

Thoughts for your Reflection: By John Gonzalez

God is merciful and God is just. These are two principle attributes that scripture tells us about God. In the first reading Abraham is petitioning for God’s mercy in the midst of his decision to distribute justice to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham’s concern for these two cities may be related to his concern for his nephew Lot. God on the other hand is concerned also with the “outcry against” these two cities. God patiently listens to Abraham pleas but in the end God brings down the destruction of these two cities. He does save Lot and his family from this destruction however so even though he does not respond to Abraham’s ultimate request for mercy he does respond to the personal concern that Abraham would naturally have.

Justice and Mercy may not always be what we expect them to be. I like to play this first reading off another reading found later on in the Hebrew scripture. In the story of Jonah we hear of another judgment event where God is set to destroy Nineveh. In this case Jonah is all in favor of this destruction and at first he refuses to participate with any act of mercy on behalf of these people. After he reluctantly does so he is disappointed in God for showing mercy towards the repentant residence of this city. Jonah refuses to accept this and waits in vain for God to act with shock and awe. Abraham is praying for mercy, Jonah is praying for justice and neither ultimately get what they want. How do we reconcile this with the Gospel reading where Jesus tells us with regards to prayer that if we ask we shall then receive?        

Prayer is an act of relationship. It does not function as a selfish act. When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray he not only has them communicate with God but he has them engage in an intimate relationship with God by calling him Abba. There is direct correlative between relating with God and relating with others. To relate with God is to accept that you are in relationship with all of God’s creation. Our act of prayer is a selfless act. We place ourselves outside our own will and control and make the petition “thy will be done.” In making this statement we make our request within the realm of the common good vs. our own desired good. God is indeed attentive to our needs and cries but he is equally attentive to the needs and cries of the entire family of creation. In the action against Sodom and Gomorrah God is responding to the outcries of many but still he hears the one cry of mercy that Abraham gives and it may be for that reason that he saves Lot and his family from this fate.

The fact is that like Jonah and Abraham many of us have made prayer request that we feel have not been heard. Our first impulse may be to think that God is not listening to us. Those of us who work for issues of justice, peace and the integrity of creation may feel neglected in the face of grave injustice, violence and environmental degradation. This past weekend as I shared a talk on the passion of the earth I heard a comment from one of the participants on how they perceived God and humanity to be neglecting the ecological devastations we have been witnessing. It may not be apparent to us but this is where the attitude of prayer needs to transform how we see ourselves and our world. Prayer is an act of submission to something greater than ourselves. It is a communication with the divine author of creation in which we share our own petitions and thanksgiving but in which we also allow ourselves to be transformed into a cosmic plan and a divine will. We will not always understand this divine will and sometimes we may perceive it as something that is not particularly good to us. And yet our faith tells us that through the Paschal Mystery (passion, death and resurrection) that something good will come out of all this suffering. In the face of violence, injustice and devastation we believe that something positive can come out of it. Out of some form of suffering a greater good can be born. Prayer is the ongoing act of conversion towards that greater good, a common good.

In the second reading Paul is informing the Colossians about this amazing transformation. On our own we are dead. The law is not sufficient for giving us new life. Through the cross Paul describes our emancipation from the sin of self indulgence. In the following chapter Paul describes these sins of self-interest which continues to keep us in captivity to this very day. In our own day we know that some even go so far as to say that greed is good but in Chapter 3 of this letter Paul tells us that greed is idolatry. If we pray for our own self interest and for our own desires then we are missing the point of prayer. We pray to share in the divine vision of building up the kingdom of God which will establish a common good throughout humanity and creation. Working with the analogy of the good parent that Jesus offers us in this week’s gospel may be helpful here. How many of us have dealt with petitions from our children which may challenge us. The item in question may seem like fun but based on our own experience we recognize the potential for unintended consequences and for that reason we may dutifully reject such petitions. So while it would seem obvious that we would not hand our children a snake when they ask for bread perhaps it may be equally obvious that would still not hand them a snake even if they were to ask for a snake.

God is just and God is merciful. This is a statement of faith because from where we individually stand we cannot possibly expect to know what this ideal of justice and compassion could look like. And so we make our prayers of thanksgiving and requests always keeping in mind that “thy will be done.”

2 Responses to “Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time: Praying for justice and mercy”

1. Fr. P.Paulraj says:

   July 24, 2010 at 12:36 pm

   this is good reflection and easy to understand by the people. do continue to give like this.
2. John Gonzalez says:

   July 24, 2010 at 6:02 pm

   Thank you Fr. Parthi,