Homily: Prayers for Us

Year B / Eastertide / Seventh Sunday

Readings: Acts 1.15-17, 20a, 20c-26 / Psalm 97102.1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab (R/v 19a) / 1 John 4-11-16 / John 17.11b-19

Sisters and brothers, do you remember when someone said to you, “I prayed for you today”? How did you feel?

My mother often reminds me that she prays for me. “I kept you in my prayers”. Sometimes, I smile when I hear this. Sometimes I say, ‘thank you’. Sometimes however I don’t pay attention to her gift of prayer. 

How do you respond when someone says they have prayed for you?

“I prayed for you today”. “I kept you in my prayers” Do these acts touch you and me deeply because they speak of another’s kindness, care and generosity? Shouldn’t they matter because they express someone’s love for us, especially, our mothers? Or, are we regretful because we took these prayers for granted and are not as appreciative as we ought to be?

To be honest, I don't spend enough time thinking about my mother’s prayers. I am thankful I did to write this homily. I know she prays for her children and grandchildren, for family and friends. I know she prays for our happiness and health, for us to remain close to Jesus and steadfast in our faith. I know she prays for the sick, the dead and those needing prayers. Her frequent prayer is for peace. 

Mom speaks often about the goodness of prayer and the need to pray daily. “Just pray” she says often; “God answers our prayers”. She has confidence when she prays.

I believe many mothers pray like my Mom does, with great faith in God and with fervent prayers for us. I think this line from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians describes how they pray best: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).

I believe this is how Jesus also prays for his disciples in today’s gospel.  Here is Jesus praying at the Last Supper: not for himself but for them. He is not teaching them how to pray and what to ask God for, like he did with “The Lord’s Prayer”. This prayer is different. He is praying to God for those he loves. 

What does Jesus pray for? Not that life will be easy for them. He knows it won't because they are in the world and it is soiled by sin. Sin that leads to scarcity instead of abundance, fear instead of courage, injustice instead of fairness and selfishness instead of sacrificial love in the world.  

So, Jesus doesn't pray that it will be easy for them. Rather, he prays for God to support the disciples amid their challenges and that they will be united together, and one with Jesus and the Father through the Spirit.

But Jesus doesn't only pray for his disciples. Immediately after today’s scene, Jesus will say: "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one" (John 17:20-21a). Yes, Jesus also prays for us. We who gather here, whether saintly or sinful, whether our Christian lives are in order or disorder. We are the ones that Jesus also prayed for then, as he continues to pray for now.

And Jesus prays for the same things for us: that we may find God's support and encouragement and that we may be one in fellowship with each other and God.  These two things go together. Here we are to be nourished by Jesus, God's Word and God’s bread; these are how God supports and encourages us to live. And here we are to deepen our relationship with Jesus; this is how we grow and live in Christ-like fellowship with God and neighbour.

Jesus’ prayer finds its fulfilment in us when we let Paul’s teaching in our second reading become our way of life. This is Paul’s teaching: “if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us” (1 John 4.12).  God’s love is the strength we need to live. It gives us the courage to face the challenges to live in the world and bear witness to God’s love. God’s love perfects us to live the Christian life.

In our everyday life, Jesus’ prayer resounds in the many prayers said for us. Whether these prayers are said by family or friend, by intercessory group or religious and priests, by those who love us or strangers who don’t know us, they all pray for us like Jesus prayed for his disciples then: for God to protect us, for God’s joy be our joy, and for God's love to be our love.

Don’t we hear these hopes echoed in their prayers to God for us to have:

Patience to be a better parent or friend. 

Encouragement amid the difficulties and challenges we face. 

Courage to stand up to a class or workplace bully or befriend a friendless classmate or work colleague.  

Consolation the face of the loss of loved ones or the end of a relationship.  

Hope when we despair and feel all is lost. 

Companionship at a time of loneliness.

Healing of body, mind, or spirit.  

Forgiveness, or the ability to forgive another. 

Joy in living with God.

You and I must learn to appreciate the love that gives rise to such prayer. We can by allowing ourselves to savour the goodness of those praying for us and the goodness they ask God for us in prayer. Yes, to savour and experience their prayer, not to simply read or listen to them.

I can’t help but imagine that when disciples overheard Jesus praying for them, they savoured the goodness of his prayer and felt a little less troubled. Less troubled as they struggled with Jesus’ impending death, Judas’ betrayal and their fear of an uncertain future. Recognising their anxieties and concerns, Jesus knew that they did not need another lesson, another miracle, another example. What they needed Jesus knew and he gave the best to them: prayer.

Those who pray for us pray like Jesus: they know what we need because of our circumstances, especially mothers who know us best.  This is why we should never underestimate the depth of love and care of those who pray for us. Let us therefore pay more attention to what at it might feel like and sound like when we overhear others praying for us. Perhaps, then we will know how high their prayers for us soar upwards to God because their love for us springs forth from the very depths of their being. 

Let us also learn from them and from Jesus about how and what to pray for others. Whether we pray for them daily, or over a hospital bed, or at a home visit, or in school and work, or at dinner time and Mass, let us not underestimate what our prayers can mean for them and how they can uplift them.

This week, prayers will continue to be said for you and me, for our needs and our hopes. This week we will pray for our loved ones and those we know who will need prayers. And yes, this week, I will hear again my mother’s reminder, “I prayed for you”. All these prayers echo Jesus’ prayer for his disciples then and for us now. They seek only God’s best for us, like Peter did for the first believers when electing Judas’ replacement that the first reading describes. 

Yes, many prayers will be said for us. It’s not that we deserve them. It’s not that you’ve earned them. It’s not that l ask for them. It’s just that many good people want to pray for us, like Jesus prayed for his disciples. They will pray to God because they know we need prayers. And maybe we really do. And this is more than okay, isn't it?

Preached at Church of the Transfiguration

Photo: http://www.gesurisorto.it/