Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 23, 2023 - 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Wis 12:13, 16-19; Rom 8:26-27; Matt 13:24-43 or 13:24-30,]The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will. [Romans]
St. Paul is addressing a community that suffered persecution and needed encouragement lest they lose hope. The chapter from which today's second scripture is taken speaks of our adoption as children of God and "joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him." [Rom 8:14-17] He further places all humanity in relationship to all of God's creation, which is in need of the care of the creator, just as we are. But given that existential identity, how is one to pray or communicate with God? Big picture thinking is difficult to do when one feels overwhelmed by circumstances, whether from nature (illness, natural disasters, accidents) or from endless human warfare and violence. How does one pray in the midst of crisis or even when life is good? We can get trapped by the "ought" in St. Paul's words because we think that there is ONE magical way to pray.
In one of his commentaries on scripture, St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us that what matters in prayer is the intention, not the words. He says that it can be difficult to get through a single "Our Father" without the mind getting distracted!! And that's when life may be going OK. St. Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit actually prays with us and for us. We can distill our prayer into one focused word: HELP!!!!
I don't mean to dismiss the enormous treasury of expression of "prayers" over 2300 years of Christian experience. The sacraments of the Church are the foundation of our community's efforts to pray together. Human creativity in prayer is incredibly diverse. What is important, however, is to remember that we do not pray alone and there are no magic words or devotions or novenas that are more effective than others. The sacramental prayer of the Church is an assurance of Christ's attention to us when we receive them "properly disposed!" Jesus himself warns us about wordiness in praying [Matthew 6:7]. We do need to acknowledge God's presence, our dependence on God and intend to pray. The Holy Spirit takes care of the rest. All the sacraments and other prayerful expressions of our faith are founded on that simple assurance. AMEN