Sunday Readings for July 26-27, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Edward Looney | For On Mission
In my personal prayer, I have been invoking the intercession of about a dozen individuals on the way to sainthood. Each one, I have assigned a special intention to pray for; consequently, daily, I remind them of that intention as I pray their prayer for beatification and intercession. This might best be described as persistent prayer, which is the central theme of our first reading and Gospel.
Abraham persists in begging God to spare the people, each time, citing a smaller number of people. Jesus teaches us to seek and knock, and we will find and the door will be opened. From the Scriptures, it appears that persistence pays off.
A month or so ago, as I was living my life, I paused for a reflective moment and realized that the graces I had been praying for through the intercession of a particular individual were being realized in my life. I was asking Blessed James Miller, who happens to be buried an hour from my current assignment, to intercede on my behalf so that I might choose to live a more humble and simpler life.
One Saturday night, as I cooked a simple meal in my rectory, I realized that maybe this was a grace of that prayer, because it would have been much easier and more enjoyable to visit a local restaurant for dinner instead of air frying a chicken breast. I have also been asking the intercession of the Servant of God Michelle Duppong for improvement in health tests. My most recent blood draw showed much improvement.
To me, it seemed that my persistent prayer was bearing fruit and that God was hearing and answering the prayers of these someday saints as I implored them.
As a priest, I am aware of the persistent prayers of mothers, fathers, grandparents, and others who beg God to help someone they love. I have counselled people to keep begging God for a particular grace. The religious sister in the movie “The Bells of St. Mary’s” begs the Lord in the tabernacle to remove anger and bitterness from her heart. It is a prayer I have prayed, and over time, I have come to realize how God has removed the anger and bitterness I once felt.
As the Scriptures remind us to be persistent in our prayer, it is an appropriate time to renew our commitment to praying for special intentions and for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Ask and beg for God’s grace. Then wait and see how he answers your prayer. Finally, thank God for the kindness he shows you.
Fr. Edward Looney serves as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Shawano, and priest celebrant at St. Martin of Tours Parish, Cecil, Wisconsin. You can follow him on social media at @FrEdwardLooney.
The readings for Sunday, July 27, can be found at Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB.