Greetings!

This Sunday's first reading from Gn 18:20-32 is often used as an example of the need to persist in prayer. In this familiar story, Abraham pleads with God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, first suggesting that the cities be spared if there are 50 righteous people dwelling there, and then bargaining from 50 to 45, from 45 to 30, from 30 to 20, and finally down to 10. Although the story does not end happily for the inhabitants of these cities, it does demonstrate God's mercy; even when there were fewer than 10 righteous people, God spared Lot and his daughters for Abraham's sake, and would have spared Lot's wife and sons-in-law had they cooperated.

But there is more to this narrative than persistence. As we learn from the Zohar, the major book of the Kabbalah, Abraham himself, like Moses, was righteous because he pleaded for his entire generation. In contrast, Noah built an ark to save himself and his family: "I lingered with you and spoke to you at length so that you would ask mercy for the world! But as soon as you heard that you would be safe in the ark, the evil of the world did not touch your heart."

Their hearts wrenched with pity, both Abraham and Moses, unlike Noah, implored God to spare the world. Their anguish and God's response reflect the importance of intercessory prayer-- not to "change God's mind" but to align our desire for the restoration of the world with God's desire, and to participate in God's holy longing for a new creation. We know from the Hebrew Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus that God is a God of justice, mercy, and compassion, with a special concern for the defenseless, especially the widows, orphans and "aliens" in our midst (Dt 10:18). In fact, the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1-12) teaches that we are blessed because we love, because we care, because we refuse to be indifferent to the agony of the poor and marginalized. And when we pray, our love becomes our prayer, and love, as we know, is the only reality that can change the world...



Many Blessings!

Elizabeth

SCRIPTURE READINGS

"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 those who seek, find;

and to those who knock, the door will be opened.

What father among you would hand his children a snake

when they ask for a fish? Or hand them a scorpion when they ask for an egg? If you then, who are wicked,

know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will the Father in heaven

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

Luke 11:9-13

What did the disciples observe as they watched Jesus at prayer? Lk 11 begins with Jesus praying "in a certain place" and with his disciples' request that he teach them how to pray. Something must have struck them about the way he prayed —something that made them curious or inspired them to learn his "secret" for effective prayer. Whether he was sitting, standing, or kneeling, or whether he was praying silently or audibly, there must have been some quality to his praying that struck them as unusual. Perhaps it was his total absorption in prayer or a certain radiance about him; perhaps they could sense the love and reverence with which he addressed God. Whether his eyes were closed or raised towards heaven, whether his hands were folded or extended, whether he was motionless or engaged in the Jewish practice of davening, Jesus' manner of praying caught his disciples' attention.

Clearly, prayer was central to Jesus' life and mission, to the core of who he was and all that he stood for. What the disciples observed was neither the prayer of habit nor obligation; it was neither rushed nor formulaic. He was fully present, completely mindful, and perfectly "at home" in the moment. That was what they, too, wanted to experience.

The Aramaic version of the Lord's Prayer helps us enter more deeply into the prayer that Jesus gave his friends and that has come down to us. It demands that we recognize God as the source of all that is and all that we are, and to acknowledge our connection to all God's children, wherever they may be. "Heaven" is not a place but a state of being that can be accessed anywhere and everywhere. By blessing God's Name, we extend love, devotion and reverence to the Holy One, uniting our will with God's will, committing ourselves to establishing God's reign across the globe and beyond. We ask for the sustenance we need to meet the requirements of each day, trusting that tomorrow will be provided for as well. We ask that the same forgiveness be meted out to us as we extend to those who have wronged us. And, finally, we pray that we will not enter into temptation but that God will deliver us from evil.

The Lord's Prayer is an all-encompassing prayer that summarizes many of Jesus' teachings. Whatever language we pray in, however, it is up to us whether we pray it reverently or by rote. It is not so much the words that matter as the meaning we ascribe to them; The Lord's Prayer is the ladder by which the soul stretches towards God and God, in turn, reaches down to us...

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