Oct. 20, 2013: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

This past week, I visited a man who is dying of a cancer that has affected his brain. I was ready to introduce myself when he said to me, "Hi, Father Brou"; he was referring to Fr. Hubert Brou who passed in 1997 while serving St. Aloysius parish. I joked with him that we priests all look alike, even though Fr. Brou was caucasian and I am Asian. Incidentally, I served at St. Aloysius for eight months as my first assignment after ordination, and Fr. Brou was buried at our Ascension Church Cemetery. Our former pastor, Fr. Phil Spano had a similar experience while visiting a local hospital. A lady greeted him as he was entering the hospital, "Hi, Fr. Louis." Fr. Phil replied with his typical dry humor, "Hi, my name is Fr. Phil. I can see why you would find striking resemblance between Fr. Louis Oubre and I. We both are heavy set. We both have beards. But, I'm caucasian, and Fr. Louis is African American." That story was told at Fr. Louis' funeral a few days ago.

The second time I visited that dying man, he apologized profusely for calling me by the wrong

name. As I was blessing him, he was clutching on to a cross he purchased at Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Shrine. He has a great devotion to Father Seelos. When I was blessing him, I put my relic of Blessed Seelos on him. This dying man is a man of prayer. Throughout his life he has attended mass daily, prayed his rosary faithfully, and served his parish church diligently. After the blessing, I told the family waiting outside his room, "I wonder if he actually saw Fr. Hubert Brou when I walked in last time. I wonder if God heard his fervent prayers at the hour of his need and sent his two favorite priests, Fr. Brou and Fr. Seelos. I do think that God answered his prayers. This week's Responsorial Psalm comes to mind about his answered prayer:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains--where does my help come from?

My help comes from The Lord, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over you will not slumber;

The Lord watches over you--the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

The Lord will keep you from all harm--he will watch over your life;

Let me ask you a very practical question. What does prayer do for you, personally? I ask this question because many of us have given up on prayer. In the gospel today, Jesus asks us to pray continually and never grow discouraged. But the reality is that we do give up on prayer and we grow discouraged as we face life's challenges. We feel at times tired of persevering in prayer, like Moses who grew tired of keeping his arms in the air. Sometimes we are ready to “throw in the towel”, and abandon the faith because our prayer isn't answered immediately. Is there a way to pray that is practical and not tiring?

A few days ago I explained to the seniors at Ascension Catholic School how to make their prayer practical. First you have to recognize that you have a need or a desire. With the seniors, I discussed about the moments when they felt ashamed. Shame is a painful emotion caused by a strong sense of guilt, embarrassment, unworthiness, or disgrace. All of us experience shame – that feeling which comes from committing a wrong, or exposing something that was intended to be private, personal or hidden. They all remembered the book Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne that they read during Junior year.  In the story, Hester Prynne, a young woman, was found guilty of adultery and was forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" (as a symbol of adultery and affair) on her dress as a sign of shame. Furthermore, she had to stand on the scaffold for three hours, exposed to public accusation and humiliation. I asked the seniors what other letters they could think of that could stand for shameful experiences. Some said, "D" for drugs, "A" for alcohol, "G" for gossip, "P" for pre-marital sex, and "U" for unfaithfulness. Then I asked, who or what can take away these events of shame? One answered, "time," and another answered, "Jesus."

The second step in making our prayer practical is scripture. Scripture names the feelings we experience--distress, anguish, the temptation to rebel, but also peaceful confidence and exultant joy. Scripture also provides us a way to experience real encounters with God through

our imagination. I led the seniors in a meditation on the scripture passage of the women caught in adultery. In that scripture story, the religious leaders who brought her before Jesus were ready to cast their stones on her. Let me walk you all through that same meditation.

Close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them.  Take a breath in and then exhale slowly.

Recall a shame that you have experienced, something that you were caught doing or something that was done to you.

Imagine a crowd of accusers around you, ready to throw their stones at you.

Imagine Jesus saying to the crowd, "Let those without sin cast the first stone."

Hear Jesus say to you, "Nor do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

Now open your eyes.

When I finished the meditation with the seniors, I asked what they felt from the prayer experience. One said, "I felt Jesus protecting me." Another said, "I felt forgiven." And another said, "I feel set free from shame."

How is prayer practical? Prayer leads us to an encounter with Jesus who stands up for us, forgives us, and sets us free from shame and guilt. That is why Jesus urges us to keep praying and not to lose heart. If we stop praying, we are likely to lose heart and give up.

The dying man whom I visited continues to pray because even in the midst of suffering, his prayer brings him face to face with Jesus who watches over him. How many of us could use that right now? When trials and setbacks disappoint you, is prayer your first resort?