Why We Pray: Faith, Hope, and Love in Action
Good morning everyone.
Well, my dear brothers and sisters, today the readings all point to one thing: faith and prayer. Actually, prayer, prayer, prayer.
The Lesson of Moses: We Can’t Do Life Alone
In the first reading, in the book of Exodus, we see how Moses was commanded by God to keep his arms up—you know, that prayer, right? The one that our charismatic brothers and sisters love. Both arms up.
But when Moses was getting tired and his arms were coming down, he needed help. He needed help. This is the beauty of community. What this lesson, what this story reminds us is we can’t do life alone. We need help. And a community together helps each other.
Prayer is all about perseverance, especially when you’re tired, about community, and also dependence on God’s grace. We need God in our life.
Prayer Is Not About Convenience
In the second reading today, from the letter of St. Paul to Timothy, St. Paul drives it home. Be persistent. Be persistent when it’s convenient and when it’s not convenient. In other words, what is he saying? Prayer is not about convenience. It’s about commitment. Be committed to the Lord.
And Jesus adds, day and night, don’t grow weary, don’t lose heart, because God loves you.
The Dye of Our Soul
Why is prayer so important? Because it is the dye of our soul. The dye of our soul. Like the coloring of our soul. Prayer allows us to see the world the correct way. And that’s why it’s important that we pray.
Because when we pray, what happens to us is that we’re able to share with others the good news. And if I don’t pray, I don’t have good news to share.
I wish I could say every parent here has something to share with their children. I can’t say that. The question is, do you pray?
If I shared to you what my father used to share with me, you don’t want to hear it. What would my father say to me when I was a child? “Al, money rules. Money is the most important thing. If you don’t have money, no one will listen to you.” And hearing that as a priest, that makes me sad. Because that means you’re not listening to me. I don’t have much money.
But the way we pray is what we’re going to share with other people. What we know, we share. And what we don’t know, we don’t share.
So why pray? Because prayer allows me to understand better myself, God, and this world that I live in. And to give the proper response to all three—to God, to myself, and to the world. Faith, hope, and love is what we can give to others.
Faith: Seeing What Your Eyes Cannot See
I’ll never forget, let’s talk about faith for a moment. What does faith mean? It means being able to see what your eyes cannot see. What your eyes cannot see. When you pray, you’re asking the Lord to increase your faith, to go deeper into the meaning of things.
I’ll never forget, many years ago, probably seven, eight, nine years ago, one of the University of Dallas students called me up and he said, “Father, do you have some time? I need to talk to you about my faith.”
I’m say, “Sure, let’s go.” So I picked him up. We’re driving around. And that’s how prayer is. Don’t think that prayer means I have to say my rosary. I have to go to chapel. I have to do this. I have to do that. I have to say the Our Father, the Hail Mary. No. It’s more than just that.
Prayer is like driving around familiar territory, rummaging through your mind, thinking about the past, things that have happened in your life.
And so here we are driving around Irving, we go around Carrollton, and he’s saying to me, “Father, Pope Francis is driving me crazy.” I said, well, why? “He’s so liberal. He’s so liberal. He’s destroying the church.” And I’m conservative. This guy is like even more conservative, right? He’s really to the far right.
And I’m just listening and listening. And so I finally parked the car in a Popeye’s. Popeye’s. I’ve never gone inside Popeye’s. Never. But I just drove right into one. And I’m listening to him. And he said, “Father, I don’t know, is he the head of the church?”
And I’m looking. And all of a sudden, what’s that say? And he goes, what? “That sign. Popeye’s.”
“No, it says ‘Pope, yes.’ ”
What does prayer allow you to do? To look at things in a completely different way. That’s what prayer does.
When you look at the crucifix, what does it say? Evil, ugly, torture, blood, betrayal. When you look at it with the eyes of faith, going beyond what your eyes can see, what do you see? You’re worth it. I love you. You’re worth every drop of my blood.
So when you pray, you’re driving through familiar territory. Go through your past and reflect and meditate on where God was in your past. And something new will come out. Trust me.
And what are you going to share with your children? You’re going to share with them your past. And you’re going to say to them, “When I was sixteen years old, I thought this was the most important thing in my life. It turned out to be nothing. Nothing. Don’t worry about this. Believe me. Trust me. Don’t worry about this. This isn’t going to change your world.”
You can only do that if you have taken time to pray and to reflect. That’s the first. Faith. When you pray, it’s to increase your faith.
Hope: To Go Beyond the Moment
When you pray, it’s to increase your hope. And what is hope? To go beyond the moment. Hope. To imagine the future. That’s what it means.
Let me give you another story. Our school children’s choir is going to Rome to sing for the Pope. St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and Assisi. We’re going to Rome. And I was on the phone with the liturgy director in Rome. And he said to me, “Padre Alfonso, do your children know Latin?”
And I was like, “Yes. Yes. Of course. Of course they know Latin. The Kyrie Eleison.”
“That’s Greek, Father.”
Did I lie? No. They sing one hymn in Latin. But imagine if I was the fool who said, “Oh, no, no, they don’t. Sorry. Sorry.”
What hope do you have that you can’t do better?
My dear brothers and sisters, when you pray, when you pray, it’s to increase your hope. When Peter fell on his knees and said, “Lord, depart from me because I’m a sinful man,” imagine if Jesus had said, “Oh, I didn’t know. Sorry about that. Thanks a lot. Thanks for letting me know.” Imagine.
Why do you go to confession? Why do you go to church? Because we believe, we have hope that we can be better. And that with God’s grace, we can overcome all things. Nothing is impossible for God.
If I don’t reflect that, if I don’t pray, how can I communicate that with others? What do I have to offer other people? What do I have to offer other people?
So prayer is the way that I increase my hope. I’m able to project the future, to be able to see more than my eyes can see at this moment.
Love: Standing Up for the Innocent
And of course, love. Love. Prayer is to increase our love.
Not too long ago, there was a young girl, a middle school girl, who came up to me with her mother. She wanted to talk and she told me, “Father, I was bullied in school.” Not our school, a different one. She said, “I was bullied in school. And kids were making fun of me. Why? Because I’m good. I’m a good person. I study hard and I’m a good person.”
And then one day, when she was in the hallway by herself, these girls came up and started hitting her and punching her, knocked her to the ground. And the worst thing they did was they videotaped it. And then they shared the video with others. And she said, “I’m so humiliated. I’m so embarrassed. I can’t sleep. I can’t think about anything else.”
And you know what I told her? I told her, “Put your head up. Put your head up. Stand up. There’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about. Nothing. Do you think he was embarrassed? Do you think he was embarrassed? He had nothing to be embarrassed about. Those people have everything to be embarrassed about, but you, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
If you don’t pray, then you will not be able to communicate the love that God has for people. Good people. Innocent people.
Keep Praying
And that’s why, my dear brothers and sisters, Jesus says, keep praying. Persevere in prayer. Why? Because I need you. I need you. This world needs you. And you need it so that you can give faith, hope, and love to people who are in need of it.
Amen?
Amen.
