Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Readings: Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13
Living in vulnerability and trusting in God’s transformative power.
Dear brothers and sisters,
It is difficult for us to address unjust situations and resisting despair while still holding onto the vision of God’s kingdom. In the world where mutual hatred is entrenched and tyranny seems unstoppable, we the people of faith have a hard time imagining alternative futures and remaining steadfast in the face of adversity.
The situation in Gaza, for example, is so dismally distressing and so convoluted that many are resigned to accept the impossibility of change. There is a danger of global indifference in the face of the humanitarian and moral crisis. Pope Leo is aware of this danger, and he continually appeals for an end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pizzaballa and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, too, speak of the enduring human spirit and the unyielding hope. They stress that there can be no future based on captivity, displacement of the Palestinians or revenge.
This is a sobering segway to our Sunday’s liturgy. Today’s scriptures emphasise the importance of persistence in the Christian life, particularly in the context of prayer and social justice. The task of nurturing God’s vision for us and for the world is an enduring commitment. As St Paul says, we must fight the good fight, even if we ourselves may not be able to see the reality of what we hope for. We must plant and water the seeds of the Kingdom even if the harvest is not within our horizons.
This was what Abraham did as recounted by the book of Genesis. He and his wife Sarah left their ancestral home, along with the familiar surroundings, in order to go to the unknown Promised Land. Yet despite the uncertainty, the trials and tribulations along the way, they remained loyal to the vision that God had revealed to them. This vision is essentially connected to the renewal of humanity as a covenant community. In last Sunday’s episode, they showed themselves as the model society, characterised by hospitality, generosity and kindness to strangers. In today’s story, Abraham pleads with God for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. His persistent bargaining seems childish, irreverent and futile. Abraham, however, learns the art of living in vulnerability and trusting in God’s transformative power.
What emerges is his profound realisation that God’s plan survives human sinfulness. The sin in question here is not so much sexual in nature as the failure to care for the strangers. The townspeople were punished for inflicting violence on the vulnerable aliens in their midst. Abraham and his nomadic clan, on the other hand, were saved and formed to be a model community of hospitality, generosity and service to outsiders. Thus, even in the primordial stage of human history, our ancestors in faith were called to be a beacon of light and a vehicle of God’s generous and unconditional love. They distinguished themselves as a counter-witness to the mindset of fear, self-interest and exclusion.
In the Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples a model prayer and then follows up with a parable about praying as part of their response to God’s integral vision. In the Our Father, Jesus situates our concerns in the larger context of the Kingdom and its justice. This is not to dismiss our personal needs and petitions as unworthy and unnecessary. Jesus teaches us that God is the God who cares for the whole of life, even its minuscule detail. God is the God of goodness who knows and gives what his children need. However, it is being aligned with the mind of God and having God’s expansive vision that we can bring all of life to its proper end.
The parable of the persistent friend is about a God who has a persistence of vision and it is through prayer that we learn to align ourselves with that vision. Prayer is the core activity by which we are nourished in hope, by which we keep the focus on God’s justice and by which we stay the course. To ‘pray always’ means to hope always for justice, to nag always the judge, to trust always in the power of God. Today’s parable finds echo in the parable of the widow who nags the corrupt judge until she gets justice. It also resonates with the story of Jesus who was initially indifferent and dismissive of the Canaanite woman’s request to heal her daughter. Her persistence is ultimately rewarded and Jesus proclaimed her to be the model of faith because she embodied God’s vision of justice for the marginalised.
As baptised people, we cannot give up too easily the quest for justice, dignity and integrity for all. We cannot lose sight of God’s vision for the world. We see the still pictures, the individual scenes that make up our lives. God sees the whole mosaic picture while we see only the individual tiles. Consequently, we should ask God to help us see the big picture, too, and to make its fulfilment our ultimate objective.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today’s liturgy reminds us that nothing in this world, not even human frailty and sinfulness, can derail God’s plan. St Paul echoes this confidence in the second reading, saying that God in Christ has brought us to life and, therefore, we should not be deterred by the setbacks, disappointments and seemingly unchangeable situations. Like Jesus, who was vindicated and glorified to be the hope of the world redeemed, we must persist in our being the agents of the Good News. Let us be the sign of an unflinching faith through which the apparent impossibility of transformation can be achieved through the power of God, as Abraham showed us and as Jesus reassured us by his teaching and by his life, death and resurrection.
