Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary time

Horse pastures near Lexington, Kentucky

“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough. 

I met a veteran who doubted the existence of God. It’s not only an old question; it’s old fashioned, meaning passé! By the time he arrived in the hospital he had made his choice – “There is no God” – and since he was listed as a Catholic I prayed for him anyway. He told me his family is Catholic and I’m sure they include their eccentric kin in their prayers as readily as the church does.

The question we want answered today is not “Is there a God?” but “Does God love me?” That’s closer to the heart of the matter.

The church has a simple answer to that, the one Jesus gave to the disciples of John the Baptist: “Come and see.”

There is only so much we can say with words. How many times can a husband reassure his anxious wife; or a parent, her child with words? If there is some reason they cannot hear the words, if they will not let the reassuring word sink into their consciousness and heal that deep insecurity, there is not much the lover can do.

So Jesus teaches us the discipline of love. He has demonstrated his love in so many ways, beginning with his incarnation and perfecting it with his passion, death and resurrection. He has given us the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, as the most perfect sign of his love.

But we have to practice hearing, seeing, tasting, touching, and knowing God’s love:

“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines…

That discipline is the daily practice of prayer. Visiting Saint Meinrad’s Monastery recently I saw a sign that read something like: “If prayer isn’t the most important thing in your life, you’ll never find time for it.”

Prayer is not a hobby. It’s not a pastime. It’s not what we do when our family, our friends, our job and our pets allow us a few minutes of extra time.

Prayer is eating. You probably remember the last time you went a whole day without food, and it probably was not recently. But the last time you went a day without prayer?

Prayer is breathing. We cannot live without it. Given the choice of eating or breathing; visiting friends or breathing; making a phone call or breathing; feeding your pet or breathing – which will you choose?

Prayer is sleep; it is companionship; it is the essential element of our life.

In today’s first reading, Isaiah prophecies:

They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations
as an offering to the Lord…

Prayer may not seem so important to our neighbors and friends. That’s not for you or me to judge. But Isaiah assures us, on that day “the nations” will bring us to Jerusalem to speak for them. They rely on our daily prayer. We are God’s sign to the nations of his perfect and all surpassing love.