RBWords

 How would Jesus have known [on a human level] how the pagans prayed?  Well, for one thing, the Romans had their temples and religious exercises in the area.  Galilee itself had a "mixed" population of Jews and non-Jews.  There was a large town called Sepphoris not far from Capernaum, where Jesus lived which was Greek in origin from the days of Alexander the Great's occupation.  Some scripture scholars have speculated that Jesus may have worked as a carpenter in that city and might have known Greek as a language.  It all makes for fascinating speculation, but Jesus' comment seems based on personal observation.   Of greater interest is the point that Jesus makes about prayer:  more is not necessarily better! 

     In giving retreats, I frequently hear a participant complain that they should be "praying more."  I generally ask them what that "more" would be if they were doing it?  They usually have no response to the question!  I have mentioned here in the past a lady who came to me with a large stack of devotional cards which held "indulgenced" prayers.  She thought that by doing all these devotions, she would be able to avoid purgatory!   She had realized that no matter how she tried, she couldn't get through all of them every day!  I was not very successful in convincing her that this is not the way God works! 

     Roman Catholic spiritual tradition has a multitude of "prayers" that could occupy the full time attention of anyone for a lifetime.  Jesus goes on in this same gospel passage today to teach us the simple prayer that we call "the Lord's Prayer."  It is that prayer which we say as a community at Eucharist at the beginning of the communion rite.  This prayer also appears in the rite of baptism and other sacraments surrounded by ritual and other prayers.  Its very familiarity can make it invisible!  If we have trouble finding the words we need to pray, this prayer is the one we can always turn to.  It carries a better guarantee than any indulgenced devotion, along with the difficult challenge to forgive!  At least we won't be babbling!  AMEN