Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 111

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Unfortunately, when God flooded the earth and restarted the human race with Noah and his sons, nothing changed. Noah planted a vineyard, got drunk on grape wine, scandalized his family, and the history of sin which began with Adam and Eve, and deepened when Cain murdered Abel, only got worse. Confusing their languages around the Tower of Babel also changed nothing. 

Wickedness had not disappeared but in fact had returned with a vengeance. And so the Lord God tried another tack. He chose a particular person, Abraham, to begin a new nation, who would be holy as God is holy, and faithful as God is faithful. This nation would be happy, prosperous, and secure so long as they were faithful in worship and both merciful and just to others. The entire world would admire Abraham’s descendants, and would want to worship their God. 

But their relationship was complicated. Abraham brought his human nature to the Covenant with God. That is, he brought deep dimensions of free choice and a personal history. God was like the young man who finds what he thinks is his ideal wife. But he discovers that she has family, friends, education, and experience; with, perhaps, some health concerns, irrational fears, and forgotten, repressed, or bitter memories. And he also has ideas, opinions, and beliefs which differ from hers. Any young man who would love this woman must love everything about her including certain mysteries he’ll never comprehend. 

By choosing Abraham, God accepted a similar situation. However, the Lord chose well. The husband of Sarah brought enthusiasm, cooperation, participation, confidence, trust – and ideas. He would not simply go along to get along. For instance, Abraham was concerned about any just persons who might be found in the doomed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It seemed unlikely but, for appearance sake, the Patriarch had to ask. And he had a personal concern, his nephew Lot lived in Gomorrah. Lot was not exactly a bright, shining star of moral rectitude but he was family, his brother’s son and should not perish with the doomed cities of the plain. 

The next day, we can only imagine Abraham's astonishment when he saw the mushroom cloud of fiery devastation rising above the plain beneath him. He must have asked himself, "What kind of God has selected me as his friend? How dangerous is he? And how powerful? How wonderful?"  

In the meanwhile, the Lord had heard their prayers for a son; and Sarah would soon be pregnant, and so the Patriarch waited for the promise to be fulfilled. They were learning to trust and make demands of each other in an unprecedented, uncompromising, endless, and very complicated affair. But whatever happened, it had to be better than destroying the entire world by flood or fire.

As baptized, faithful people we are heirs of Abraham and must talk to the Lord with Abraham’s audacity. Because God promised Abraham that his descendants would bring blessings to all the nations, it falls to us to pray for the world, and not just for ourselves. We are a holy people sent from Jerusalem throughout the world to show by our life and manner, by our example and teachings, by our generosity and integrity, the holiness of God. And we have the authority to ask for anything human. This was God’s will from the beginning, and it’s what we want.  

We should have the spirit of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar in the street outside of Jericho. You remember that when he heard a crowd of people walking by, and learned that they were listening to Jesus, he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” Nor would he stop shouting when the crowd told him to hush up. He made a nuisance of himself until finally the Lord stopped and asked him, “What do you want?” 
A direct question deserves a direct answer and he replied, “I want to see!” 
It’s not so hard to ask! Just do it. If you need something, ask for it. You want good government, an economy which cares for rich and poor alike, and a flourishing planet.You want to live in his love; you pray daily that his Kingdom will come; and so you ask for what you want. 

The Lord spoke to Bartimaeus, “Your faith has saved you! Go your way.” And where did he go? He followed the Lord, because that’s what eyes are for. 

The story is told of Saint Frances Cabrini. This immigrant woman came from Italy to Chicago in 1899. She had nothing but her faith and she built Assumption School, the first Italian school in Chicago, and later opened Columbus Hospital. How did she do it? She saw that the children needed a school so she went to church and prayed, “You can; you must; you will!” Over and over again, she prayed, “You can, you must, you will.” And then she went to the contractors, and the carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and teachers and built a school. And then a hospital. 

She wanted it because God wanted it; or maybe God wanted it because she wanted it. In any case it happened. 

When the young Galilean woman prayed that God would send his promised Messiah, the Lord God answered her prayers. When she stood on Calvary and STILL believed that God is faithful, he heard her prayers again, and Jesus rose from the dead. Her fidelity called Jesus out of the grave just as Jesus had called Lazarus out of the grave, just as Abraham had taken his son Isaac – who was as good as dead – back to his mother Sarah after offering the boy in sacrifice to God. 

That’s how we must pray for our nation, our world, our church, and ourselves. With the faith of Abraham, Jesus, Mary and all the saints; with confidence, and absolute assurance. Whether we get precisely what we think we want or not, doesn’t matter. What matters is what God wants, and that his kingdom must come. If we know what that means we’ll pray for it. 

For everyone who asks, receives;

and the one who seeks, finds;

and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.