Dr. Cindy Bernardin
Morning Prayer Homily
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
New Harmony, Indiana
“Jesus was praying in a certain place”
Official prayer happens in official places at official times
That’s not what is happening here…in this text from Luke’s Gospel
Let’s call this ‘Regular’ prayer
Off-hours prayer
Prayer that arises INSIDE us
The Gospel of Luke is often called the Gospel of Prayer
Jesus lives in this rhythm of prayer and action,
A rhythm that goes back and forth
(one hand) responding to the demands of the world around him
And (other hand)
grounding himself in his relationship with his father… in God’s love
The disciples were good Jews
They knew how to pray…Officially
I had a professor once how mused that every morning Jesus woke up and greeted the day praying the SHEMA…
And so at the beginning of each class we chanted together
(the Hebrew)
Hear O Israel
The Lord our God is One
Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever
The point is…this is not their question the disciples pose to Jesus!!!
The disciples were not asking how to do a better job of chanting the SHEMA
We are in Chapter 11
The disciples have been paying attention
They must have noticed a difference in Jesus
when he returned from his episodes of
“going off to pray”
They must have noticed that when he returned from “going off to pray” he was somehowCHANGED/refreshed/made new
I imagine them looking at each other…and one of them…probably Peter…saying:
“I don’t know what happened when he went off???
…But I want it!
I want whatever it is he has!
I want HIS prayer life!”
It was essential…it's what made his life of sacrifice possible…it was the source of his peace.
This disciple could use a bit of that!
AS we all know…predictably, over time, the Lord’s Prayer became OFFICIAL!
The version in Matthew’s Gospel anyway.
Like me, I bet some of you had the experience, as youngsters,
of learning how to SAY prayers
(any nodding)
For me, in my early years, prayers were a kind of commodity…like coins
10 of these, 3 of those, followed by a deep “Glory BE”
Prayer was a kind of currency
And, don’t get me wrong, there is a gift in having “prayers to say”
Memorized prayers that you can turn to when you are overwhelmed
and too empty of your own words.
This shorter/less familiar Lukan version of the Lord’s Prayer
sounds more REGULAR…less official than our Sunday version…more bare bones…
Nothing fluffy here
Not a lot of flattering language
Not particularly solemn
Even with it's patriarchal baggage
I suggest
that the most important word in this short prayer is “Father”
often translated DADDY
In the context of Luke’s narrative, it sets a tone
Immediately something familiar is happening
this is the beginning of a conversation with someone extremely close, near, and intimate
This is not a conversation of equals
I hear an admission… “Daddy…you’re the one who knows me better than I know myself”
The Other, comes first
YOU…are to be honored
YOUR desired kingdom of peace and justice is foremost
Our daily bread…is that which sustains us
But it can’t be separated from the coming of God’s Kingdom
Our participation is the work of mercy and forgiveness.
That’s at the heart of it
That rings true to me
Think about your own experiences of mercy/forgiveness/reconciliation
Experiences with someone near, someone you love
I’m not sure there is anything more intimate
Or More holy
Like the disciples
We know how to say prayers
And we probably all have different modes of REGULAR prayer that suit us
(Get concrete)
1) I was making dinner the other night
Rob was sitting on the deck listening to some music and I came out and he was tearful…some song just touched him in that prayerful place.
Music is a conduit of prayer…
Nature’s grandeur is a conduit of prayer…
Birdsong, extremely loud treefrogs, the smell of a babies
All conduits of prayer
But not automatically…not in and of themselves
It's when each of these encounters reaches into us and grabs us in that intimate place
that turns our hearts and minds to God…
…who knows us better than we know ourselves
2) I went to confession once when I was up at St. Meinrad.
at the time I was pretty full of anger…
And my confessor asked me “Do you every just yell at God?”
And…well he’s a monk and I wanted to say the right thing…so I said NO
…which was also true
I was way too polite to yell at God!
And his penance wasn’t
10 Hail Mary’s and 3 Our Fathers and a robust Glory Be
It was…
“Cindy…
go take a walk…
right now…
and yell at God…just spew it at him for at least 15 minutes”
I’d never realized how intimate anger could be!
I yelled and cried and yelled and cried
And as exhausted as I was
There was no doubt that I had an intimate encounter with God
Who knows me better than I know myself.
3) Maybe some of you are like me…I like touchstones and practices
I need reminders…prayer reminders!
So I have my fair share of crucifixes, icons, and chatchkies in my house
That, at least in theory, turn my thoughts to God.
My friend Karla
Has a God-Can
Her’s is an old Folgers can
She keeps it on a ledge in her old house…
you know those old telephone cubbies… back when a house only had one phone?
Anyway…She puts little written prayers in it…
Her prayers,
And things others have asked her to pray for
Those ledges are always in the entryway…or some central place
And when she passes by she puts her hand on it
And whispers
“God can”
4) A youth minister friend of mine shared a really simple prayer gesture she taught her teenagers
I am here (both hands gesturing to the ground)
I am yours (both hands gesturing toward the heavens)
I can imagine getting ready to walk into an uneasy situation or to have a tough conversation
Not a bad prayer…
I am here
I am yours
So what can we say about prayer…in particular our REGULAR prayer?
-It is conversation…we really KNOW that God is there
-Intimate conversation
-So I suppose that makes it the fuel of our relationship with God
-it doesn’t have to be polite
-but it does have to be honest
-Not always full of answers
-But always a sign of companionship
There is this beautiful song by Alison Kraus called “A Living Prayer”
The refrain goes like this:
In your love I find release
A Haven from my Unbelief
Take my life and let me be
A Living Prayer, my God to thee.
And the bottom line …it seems to me…is
That Praying is the only way to practice our way into having
“Our Lives be a Living Prayer” …as the song goes
So…What is it that I need…that you need
Words/practices/gestures/quiet/time
What is it that might help us pray more honestly and intimately and frequently?
What is it that will help us put ourselves in the presence of the One who
Knows us better than we know ourselves?
