What parent among us does not want the very best for their children? Children deserve the best of what we have to offer! Though often times, due to their particular age and stage of growth, they may not be able to fully understand what it is that we are giving them or withholding from them.
We, who are baptized, are God’s adopted children! But it is not just an ordinary adoption – it is adoption into the living reality of God – who is an eternal exchange of love between three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Living in God can only mean living in giving! Living in self-donation! It is a dynamic thing! It is an expansive thing! It is an other-oriented thing!
God is so eager to provide for all of our needs and to help us all he can to be the best possible people that we can become! The most loving! The most giving! The most other-oriented! He gives us many things in order to transform us into such a person – things which we both understand at times, and then again don’t understand fully at other times. It seems that sometimes he gives, and at other times he takes away! But one thing he wants us to know is that we can always turn to him, call on him, pray to him for help! And he will always hear us! And he will always answer us – but in the way that is best suited for us! Which may not always be the way we like it, or the way we think it ought to be - even though he is the Father and we the child!
In fact, Jesus is very insistent on the idea of prayer! He tells us to pray ALWAYS! St. Paul in his writings, tells us to PRAY UNCEASINGLY! and we have the colorful and clear imagery of the first reading, with Moses lifting up his hands in prayer – and in fact – having to be helped by Aaron and Hur to keep his arms raised up so that God’s power could be shown in the events of the day! This imagery of raised hands can represent both the necessity to pray always, even with the help of others – and also, the reference to the reason why all prayer is in fact answered at all – because of the raised arms of Jesus on the Cross. If Jesus did not raise his arms on the Cross when he was lifted up, then our prayer would be in vain!
At the end of the passage Jesus warns us not to use prayer for specious purposes. Real prayer is an expression of faith! Jesus is insistent on praying, but only if it is to awaken, improve or deepen our faith! He does not want to return to earth at his second coming and find most of the people praying: “Lord, Lord!” but not have any works of faith, works of charity to back it up!
In the second reading today St. Paul encourages Timothy to remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you have learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures.
Parents can take notice here that Paul is encouraging them to help their children any way they can - no matter what their age - to know Jesus: from stories about him in the Scriptures – and by teaching them to pray to him – to pray to him always – each and every day! Jesus is not just a character in a story - he is a real person who is still very much alive and wants to have a wonderful and deep relationship of friendship with each and every one of us! That relationship can begin with a simple prayer!
We are all children of God
and need to live this way,
and pray this way -
every day!
Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment