Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings this Sunday invite us to consider the power of prayer. I hesitate to use the word power, because it is such an important word in the American lexicon. Power is used to sell machinery, everything from computers to cars.

When I think of prayer I think of our covenant with God, and who teaches us better than Abraham, the father of the covenant, and Jesus, the Covenant Incarnate?

Covenant implies relationship and a nation of lonely people should contemplate the power of lasting, dependable, honest relationships.

The word covenant comes to us from the ancient near-east, from Mesopotamia to Egypt and Greece. Emperors and kings made covenants with one another, often with an exchange of family members. “My daughter will marry your son and we will be forever bound to one another in their covenant of love.” That system prevailed well into modern times.

If the “love” of those married couples was often compromised by concubines and mistresses, the pact their rulers had made still meant something.  

The covenant was intended to last forever, like the marriage. And the language of their agreements, from what I understand, often used words like love, gratitude, and fidelity. Divorce was out of the question since the marriage bound families, peoples and nations together. The relationship was stronger if the immigrant spouse used his or her influence in the court. A young wife, for instance, might be the mother of the future king. She was always a force to be reckoned with.

In any case, conversation was the key. Like Abraham in this story from Genesis, the parties kept talking until they had an agreement. If one or the other party didn’t like the agreement, he was still there in the court, influencing how it was carried out.

In this story from Genesis, Abraham has a hidden agenda. I don’t think he is especially concerned about ten or twenty “just men” in either Sodom or Gomorrah. His wayward nephew Lot is there! So, although the cities are destroyed, Lot and his family escape. Good work, Abraham!

In our “dealings” with God, we have to keep talking, like the persistent neighbor in Jesus’ parable. “If he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.”

When we pray, we repeatedly say, “I will not quit this friendship with you, my God. I love you with all my heart. I trust you; I believe in you. And I know you want nothing but good for me and mine. Thy will be done! But – if you’ll take a bit of advice from one with severely limited vision – here’s what I think you should do....”

And God listens to our prayer. We have, as the Letter to the Hebrews teaches, an advocate before the throne of God, and he is our own brother, son, friend, and savior, Jesus.

It is good too, to remember the prayer of Mary. Along with all Israel, she prayed for a messiah, and God could not deny what Mary wanted. Her will is completely attuned to the will of God. Whatever God wants, she wants; whatever she wants, God wants! We watch Mary remaining “in relationship” with God even on Calvary. She would not abandon her Son or her God. if her human mind could not comprehend what was happening, she still believed.

Like you and me, Mary has cast her lot with God. With her ancient ancestor, Joshua, she would pray, “As for me and my house, we will worship the Lord.” 

God cannot resist such beautiful, patient, joyous and persuasive persistence.

In dealing with God, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.