Good Shepherd Catholic Parish

The 17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

          Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  OK, does everyone here know what the word “paradigm” means?  Just in case you don’t know or have forgotten here is the definition; a paradigm is a widely accepted belief, example, or concept held by a society or a person.  Now honestly, paradigm is a relatively new word in the English vocabulary, but I often like to say, one of the Jesus’ missions 2000 years ago was to eliminate any paradigms hindering humanities’ relationship with God.  And we have a perfect example of one of Jesus’ paradigm crushers today as he tells his disciples how to pray.

          Today in Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus tell us how to pray by calling God, “Father” in Matthew, we hear him say “Our Father” and in Mark he says “Abba Father”.  “Abba Father” is also a phrase used by Paul in Galatians and Romans.  And since the whole New Testament was originally written in Greek the word used would have been “Pater” where “Abba” is the Hebrew or Aramaic word Jesus probably spoke 2000 years ago.  Our Biblical scholars translate both words simply as father.  And for most of my life I never gave it a second thought as I mechanically recited the Lord’s Prayer until something happened in about 1989.  Now I’m going to tell a story I’ve told to many people before, including those who attend my adult Bible classes, so if you’ve heard it before – tough.  You’re just going to have to hear it again.

          While I was still in the Army, I was on an official trip to Israel and my hosts took me up to Lake Tiberius, about 60 miles north of Jerusalem.  BTW when Jesus was walking the land, Lake Tiberius was called The Sea of Galilee.  I was standing on a little beach watching kids and families playing in the water and sand when a little girl about 4 or 5 years old running full speed, fell face first in shallow water, and did a face plant on the sandy bottom.  She came up sputtering, spiting sand and water, caught her breath, then started crying.  She looked around frantically until she found her dad and then went screaming across the beach with her arms flailing in the air crying loudly, “Abba, Abba, Abba!”  Now, it didn’t take too long for the old wheels to start turning and translate this whole scene into one that’s probably repeated every day during the summer on our own Gulf Coast and realize, she was crying, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” in Hebrew.  And from that day forward I’ve never said the Lord’s Prayer in quite the same old mechanical way again.

            At the time of Jesus Christ, Yahweh was the formal Hebrew name for God.  The name was so sacred however, it would never be spoken out loud, except by the High Priest completely alone in the Holy of Holies of the Temple.  No common Jew would dare speak the sacred name.  Consequently, they had lost a type of intimacy with their own creator and wouldn’t dare speak God’s name, even in prayer.  A scholar and teacher I once had said this; “They could not experience the echo of the shadow of the Spirit of God.”  My friends, that was a paradigm.  And now suddenly here’s Jesus telling all Jews to start verbally calling God a completely intimate name used in the closest family relationship.  He told them; when you pray to God, the unlimited creator of the universe, call God – Daddy.  Really?  As we sit here in Church some 2000 years later it’s almost impossible to appreciate the effect of what Jesus was saying to his 1^st Century Jewish audience.  I’d suggest you this; however, my little story may merit a little prayerful meditation sometime, not only as you say the prayer Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel, but the story really applies to all prayer.

          There is also one other image I’d suggest you picture in your own mind as you recall this little story about intimacy with God in prayer.  The U.S. Catechism for Adults says this; “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer.  The event is always grace-filled and a gift.”  Now of course we all know prayer takes many, many forms and reciting a formal prayer like the Our Father is just one of those forms but think about what I just quoted from the Catechism for a second.  “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer.”  Consequently, the inverse must be true, no prayer, no intersection with God’s call – but then, always remember, a prayer can be as simple as a “yes” or “thank you” in acknowledgement of God’s presence.

          OK, I’m sorry folks.  As a technical engineering kind-a guy I tend to be very visual at times and when I read a sentence like; “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer,” I visualize graph paper and intersecting lines.  I just can’t help it, but even out of this somewhat worldly technical visualization I suddenly saw something that actually helped my personal prayer life.  A vertical line and a horizontal line intersecting in, you got it, a Cross!  God’s call and my response represented by the Cross.  And as a Catholic Christian I also visualize the suffering Jesus Christ at the center, forming a Crucifix as validation of God’s unimaginable love for us all.

          So, here’s your homework for today.  Take a few minutes sometime soon to quietly meditate on a frightened little girl on a beach in Israel, crying “Abba, Abba, Abba,” as she ran to her daddy, and recall this is exactly how Jesus told his disciples to speak to God in prayer.  And always remember, anytime you pray, even if it’s just a simple “yes” or “thank you” to God, it is an intersection with God’s personal call to you, it is always grace-filled, it is a gift, and it is shaped like a Cross.