A Coincidence, or an Answer to a Prayer? - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, B

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102818.cfm

A coincidence, or an answer to prayer?  I’ve found many situations in my life when I’ve considered this question.  Take this past Tuesday evening for instance, when I was back in Omaha for a few days and met up with a friend for supper.  I walked into the restaurant he recommended, and immediately I recognized a friend from the Catholic Newman Center.  As I went to a table, she came over and said hello, and she began speaking about how cool it was to see me, since she had just been thinking and praying about contacting me.  She asked if I was meeting someone there, and I mentioned my other friend coming too, and she said, “No way!  I was going to message the two of you!”  At that moment, he came in, and she was visibly surprised and began to tell us what she would have messaged us.  What struck me most is when she said, “Wow, I was praying about doing this, and it’s clear that Jesus sent me this as a sign.  It’s crazy, things like this happen all the time for me!”  A coincidence, or an answer to a prayer? 

I’m most struck by my friend’s faith and her ability to see Jesus acting in her life.  She trusts in Jesus so much that she knows that he wants to respond to her prayers, even in little things, and this moment was a beautiful reminder to me of the power of trusting in Jesus.  Honestly, sometimes I forget about moments like these and become skeptical about the power of prayer.  But then moments like these, which can happen often, remind me of His presence and love for me and for all others.

In today’s Gospel, we have another beautiful example of trust in Jesus.  Bartimaeus heard about Jesus’ miracles, and he’s desperate for an opportunity to speak with him.  We see Bartimaeus’s boldness – he cries out as loud as he can, not being afraid to make a scene.  He is resilient; even when those around him tell him to be quiet, he only becomes louder.  Also, he is expectant; he has full faith in Jesus, the Son of David.  Bold, resilient, and expectant – these qualities are already grace given by the Lord so that he can make this prayer.  Then Jesus asks the key question, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Those around Jesus may be wondering, “Jesus, don’t you see that he can’t see?  Isn’t it obvious?”  But Jesus asks this question, Bartimaeus responds honestly, and Jesus performs this glorious healing. 

Whenever we pray, we can imagine Jesus asking this same question to us, “What do you want me to do for you?”  As we heard last week, Jesus came to serve, not to be served, and in our own prayer, it’s incredible that he wants to serve us.  This then leads to our own response of service.  But I recognize that there can be some obstacles that keep us from responding.  If God already knows everything, why do I need to pray for what I want?  What does this prayer look like?  And what if I don’t get what I pray for? 

Along with this Gospel, I’ve recently found some great answers from St. Augustine, who lived in the 4^th and 5^th centuries, in a letter he wrote to his friend named Proba.   Augustine begins with the question: why do we pray at all if God already knows what we need?  He writes, “Our Lord and God does not (just) want to know what we want (for he cannot fail to know it) but wants us rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what he is preparing to give us.  The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our desire, the larger will be our capacity to receive that gift, which is very great indeed.”  If God loves us infinitely and has created us from nothing, and if He wants to give us His grace in so many ways, then our prayer to Him shows that we want to receive this love, that we want to live in this relationship with Him.  Think of this image: when a child asks his or her parents for something, whether really realizing it or not, the child is saying, “Daddy, Mommy, I trust that you’re powerful, that you love me, and that you’re able to give me this!” 

Second, what does this prayer look like?  Bartimaeus doesn’t give this huge speech to the Lord; he keeps it to a simple statement, “I want to see.”  Likewise, our own prayer doesn’t need to be huge and complex – in fact, the simpler, the better.  St. Augustine writes, “To pray for a longer time is not the same as to pray by multiplying words, as some people suppose.  Lengthy talk is one thing, a prayerful disposition which lasts a long time is another.”  We come before the Lord in simplicity, and we are ready to respond to him.  Notice that when Bartimaeus prays, he waits for the Lord’s response.  When he receives his sight, he doesn’t just go away, but he follows Jesus and becomes his disciple, learning from the Teacher.  Jesus isn’t a vending machine to get favors from; he is our teacher, savior, guide, and friend, leading us toward the Father.

Third, what if we don’t get what we pray for?  I think this is my own biggest obstacle; I don’t want to pray for something big and be disappointed that I didn’t get it.  In the Gospel, what if Bartimaeus hadn’t been healed?  That would have been pretty embarrassing for him!  But as I mentioned before, prayer comes from a relationship.  The parents who don’t give their children something aren’t doing it out of hatred but because they know what is truly best for them.  When we’re troubled or needing help, it’s always beneficial to ask for help and healing from the Lord, trusting that His will be done.  St. Augustine writes, “If God does not take affliction away, we must not imagine that we are being forgotten by him but, because of our loving endurance of evil, must await greater blessings in its place.” 

Like Bartimaeus, we can be bold in our prayer, resilient against the inner voices that tell us to be quiet, and expectant that even if it’s not what we immediately want, God will pour out His love in our lives.  When we pray to the Lord, we show our trust in Him and allow Him to love us as He desires.  I saw this so well in my friend in Omaha; her relationship with the Lord is such that she can ask Him for these simple things and become joyful when they happen. 

We can practice this right here at Mass.  Jesus is asking each of us right now, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Maybe there’s some big things you’re wanting to pray for, or maybe it’s fairly simple.  In any case, we place these intentions on the altar, letting Jesus give us His Body and Blood in exchange.  Consider: for every day this week, when can you take time for a few minutes of prayer like this?  If we do this, maybe we’ll begin to see more “coincidences” in our lives, and we can trust that they are indeed answers to our prayers.