by Father James Rodriguez
God really loves us. It’s a statement used so often as to perhaps sound trite, but it is deeply true. Abraham learns this lesson through his negotiation in today’s first reading, seemingly haggling for God’s mercy.
As I get older, I read these words differently than before, thinking of God as a patient and loving father listening to a young son. What appears to be Abraham convincing God to be merciful is actually Abraham exploring the depths of divine mercy. We can imagine him more and more amazed at every step of this exchange, at every “yes” of God.
Indeed, prayer does not change God; it changes us.
The disciples had to come to this lesson often. Today, as they receive the Our Father, they are given more than words to recite, beautiful though they are. They receive the knowledge that God has come to restore to us the intimacy we lost with him in the garden.
We had forgotten that he wants to be our provider and protector, the doting husband to his bride, the Church. He is eager to come to our rescue so often as we cry to him, even when the traps we fall into are of our own making. We need only ask, because in the asking, there is humility and an acknowledgment that we cannot do it on our own; we need our Father’s help.
Jesus teaches us persistence in prayer, not to change God’s mind, but to soften our hearts, which are all too ready to give up when we mistake his “not yet” for a “no.” The ultimate “yes” of God comes in the person of Jesus himself. The Incarnation is of such momentous import that it redefines what we mean by life and death.
For St. Paul, death is sinfulness. Whenever he speaks of Christ, his words exude the gratitude of a man restored, a hostage rescued. Likewise, the saints all came to know themselves liberated and raised to true life, which is nothing less than the friendship Christ came to extend to us.
At our baptism, this great journey began, and he promised us a helper for the uphill climb. In the Holy Spirit, we literally breathe the breath of God, restoring our tired lungs. The blood of Christ courses through our veins after every holy Communion, and moments later, after the prayer, the announcements, and the second collection, we are sent out like torchbearers into the darkness outside, illuminating souls with the grace entrusted to us.
We are called by Christ to teach the world how to pray, to remind spiritual orphans everywhere that we indeed have a father and that he is faithful; he is trustworthy. We live in an age marked by great fear, but the greatest fear of all is that “this Catholicism thing” is too good to be true.
May we, who have been raised from spiritual death, be nourished by Christ’s daily bread and, in turn, feed our brothers and sisters.
Father James Rodriguez is the pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church in Rockaway Beach.