This is a reflection on the Sunday Gospel on 7 September 2008. I think there are two parts to the Gospel, but the priest's homily at the mass I attended focused on the second part: prayer. We'll reflect on the first part on another reaction+reflection.
I picked up two things from the priest's homily.
First, on who or which prayer God listens to better and how he answers prayers.
The priest gave as an example the ballgame between two of the most influential (they are private schools with the highest tuition fees) local Catholic schools the day before, Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University. Ateneo won.
The priest said that we can imagine how all those on Ateneo's side prayed that Ateneo win, and all those on La Salle's side prayed that La Salle win. With Ateneo winning, did that mean that either the Ateneo fans prayed more? Or perhaps there are more Ateneans (Blue Eagles) than La Salleans (Green Archers) and that's why Ateneo won?
The answer obviously is that God listened to prayers from both sides. And God gave his perfect answers to both sides. God listens to all who pray to him. And God listens to all our prayers. And God will give us the best answer to our prayer. He is after all Our Loving Father, and he knows best.
The priest's second point that caught my attention and here I am able to recall it is: prayer should not be selfish. We should be praying for each other more. We should pray for others more. Ourselves should be at the last of our concern.
Thoughts about loving your neighbor come to mind. Indeed you should love your neighbor as yourself - I am sure you would desire other people praying for you. And because you know God listens to their prayers (and yours), and to all prayers. You are effectively loving yourself when you love others. Of course, you have to know how to love others. It is not easy particularly when you are brought up not in a loving environment. But it is doable and that is why God commands us to do it - because he knows we can do it. But this is one of the simplest act of loving another person - praying for him or her.
I remember three times in my life when I prayed for something and God revealed his perfect answers in time.
The first time was on the night before my licensure exam. It was a day and a half of problem solving and/or recalling some important words from memory. The two months before, I scheduled my study times (i.e. 8-6pm), but I also gave time for my weekends - hanging out with friends (playing table tennis, or basketball, or playing Dance, Dance Revolution and other PS1 games), going around town with family, and attending mass. I know I had to be relaxed on the exam day(s). That includes being relaxed also the night before. The night before, although I did not yet study everything, I stopped studying. I went out (with my friend Saj), and we went to one of the nearest churches, and prayed before eating dinner at a nearby restaurant.
I prayed for everyone taking the exam, but of course also for my schoolmates/friends - those closest to me - who are also taking the exam, and finally for myself - to pass the exam. If I remember correctly, I just also prayed for my family and everyone who's supported me. And so on and so forth. I cannot anymore remember further details to my prayer except that I prayed for a lot of people, and the last thing I prayed for was that I just pass the exam.
A week later, the results came out. Two guys from another school who had been studying for about a year got the best and 3rd best exam scores. A guy from my school who had been studying for about half a year and who was still trying to cram everything the night before the exam (and who we considered to be our "pambato," meaning we thought if there was anyone who would get the best exam score it would be him) got the 15th best exam score. A guy who was late for the review classes most of the time, who came home drunk from one party two weeks before, and who only really focused on studying daily just two months before, got the 2nd best score. That was me. I am not bragging here about myself. You can't imagine how surprised I was when I found out. All I prayed for was to just pass. Up to a certain point, I have been attributing it to luck. But now I know it wasn't luck. I know it was God. It was God's work. And it was God's answer to my prayer. It is one of my best achievements so far. And no, being 2nd best back then has not helped me much in my career or financial situation - it helped me realize this thing about prayer. Prayer should not be selfish.
Just recently, there was something (someone actually) I prayed for and I was given God's answer as I had asked for, and I think between my first example (passing my licensure exam) and this - there is one other thing I learned about prayer: you offer something first. It could be as simple as praying for others, or as simple as acknowledging God as God, the Father, the Master, and yourself as his creation, his child, and his servant - I do not know what "works." (See my next paragraph.) For this recent "thing" that I prayed for, I served God first. I lead a small group of young men and women in prayer. I gave talks. I wrote songs of praise to God. And then he gave me his answer. And I can only be thankful that he gave me what I had asked for. But the thing is, I served God first.
And that's what I realized from this other thing I've prayed for earlier in my life. I asked for something, and offered that I will serve God if he gave me what I prayed for. Can you already see what's wrong in that statement? You can pray all you want, and however way you want, and you can be so very active in God's service and make it your living - but it doesn't still mean God will give you what YOU want. Or what you ask for. Do you know why? Because you, or me, or we, are not God. If you should ever think that when you praise God until you lose your voice, or you serve God's people and you lose a limb, you expect God to give you what you have prayed for - I don't know if you agree, but that would be like being God. You are effectively commanding The Father - "Lord, because I have done this and that for you, you should give me this thing that I want / that I ask for." And that is God's job. He saves his people - e.g. helping Israelites flee from Egypt, or sending Jesus his Son - and then he gives his commandments (ten commandments, and two greatest commandments, respectively) and enters a covenant with us.
This incident earlier in my life, when I tried to "be God" and tried to "outsmart" God, when I asked him for something in exchange for better and more dedicated service to him, God gave me what is best for me - he didn't give me what I asked for. Instead, he showed me who is God. And then the problem then was, true enough, when he didn't give me what I wanted, I stopped serving him altogether. It was so wrong. Of course, he could've just given me what I wanted anyway. Because maybe I was ready already. That was the thing - I wasn't yet ready really to serve. My heart was not 100% for him; not yet. Or, he could've just given me what I wanted only to be hurt more later on - a snowball effect - if he thought I needed a bigger knock on the head. It turned out I just needed a tap on the head to get myself back on my feet to turning back to him. La Salle lost because God is telling them that they need better practice, and that they need not worry now because it is not yet Final Four or Championship time.
I am already actually connecting another homily from another priest from another parish from years back with this gospel. That other priest said, the problem with us is we try to be God sometimes - when we get frustrated when we don't get what we want. When our employees/maids/children/parents/etc. are not what we want them to be, or when they fail to do what we expect them to do. And so on. The priest said, we don't have a right to be frustrated when things don't go our way.
So anyway.
God listens to all our prayers. Whoever we are.
God will give his answers to all our prayers, in time. It may not be what WE want. But it is definitely what God wants - and he only wants what is best for us.
Prayer should not be selfish. Let us serve God first - i.e. by praying for others first, etc. We should not let God down (e.g. by getting frustrated or angry, by stopping attending mass or falling into sin, etc.) if we do not get what we asked for.
Let's pray daily! :-)
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