17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Gn 18:20-32
Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
Col 2:12-14
Lk 11:1-13

As a Franciscan, I try to be attuned to the central theme St. Francis of Assisi lived out in his life. In countless ways, Francis celebrated and preached the Incarnation. Jesus came to reveal in his humanity the awesome reality of who God is for us. In Jesus, we see "the human face of God." Francis delighted in communicating to people a very personal God. I believe that's what made St. Francis attractive to the people of his time—the very down-to-earth way in which he preached, taught, and especially lived a life that pointed to the closeness of God to us. And the God Francis reflected was a God of love, forgiveness and mercy.

Today's first reading, where Abraham bargains with God, as well as our Gospel, where Jesus teaches us to pray, are united in their use of very down-to-earth, human imagery to portray God’s mercy. Abraham and God dicker back and forth over how many good people it will take to save Sodom from destruction. In Jesus' parable about prayer, God is the friend we bother in the middle of the night, and wear down with our persistent begging for what we need.

God is ready to give us our daily bread—and more: forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit, if only we ask. If we think of God as a loving friend, a kind caring parent, one who will enter into our human need and meet us there, then prayer will come a bit easier: It's what Jesus taught us!

Scripture:

•“For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:32)

•When I called you answered me; (Psalm 138:3)

•You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God… (Colossians 2:12)

•I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened (Luke 11:9,10)

Reflection:

•What is your deepest desire? What do you pray for?

•If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

•What does it mean to rise with Christ? What is beyond death?

•If you were to ask God to open any door for you, what would be on the other side? Do you have the courage to ask and to open that door?

“Riches mean nothing to us any longer. Our days are too empty of meaning. We suffocate, in rhetoric and boredom. The time has come to cry out the Gospel, by means of our lives. Francis, think of us. Do not abandon us. Ask the Lord whether he wishes to have from us women as well, a pledge to leave all things to live in the poverty of the Gospel and the charity of Jesus.” (Clare speaking to Francis)