27 July 2025 – 17th Sunday (C)
27 July 2025 – 17th Sunday (C)
(1) Genesis 18:20-32
Abraham intercedes and haggles with God to spare the city of Sodom
The Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.
Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.”
He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angy if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”
Responsorial: Psalm 137:1-3, 6-8
R./: Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart,
you have heard the words of my mouth.
Before the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple. (R./)
I thank you for your faithfulness and love
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul. (R./)
The Lord is high yet he looks on the lowly
and the haughty he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of affliction
you give me life and frustrate my foes. (R./)
You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands. (R./)
(2) Colossians 2:12-14
Through baptism into his death and resurrection, we rise to a new life
When you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
Gospel: Luke 11:1-13
When asked how we should pray, Jesus teaches the “Our Father.”
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Teach Us To Pray
There are methods of prayer a-plenty and many gurus offering to teach us meditation. We can readily identify with the disciple who asked, after watching Jesus at prayer, “Lord, teach us to pray.” They wanted to know how Jesus set about prayer, in his own heart. St Luke’s Gospel is notable for its prayerful focus. More than the other Evangelists he draws attention to Jesus praying – whether alone, on the hills or in the garden of olives.
Like that unnamed disciple, we can sincerely ask, “Lord, teach us to pray.” But first we need to sit in silence, just aware of him. Then gradually, like the apprentice learning from the master, or rather, like good soil becoming fertile from the falling dew, his prayer takes root and germinates in our hearts. Slowly we too begin to repeat that central prayer which links our whole being to the one that Jesus calls, “Abba, Father.”
We are unused to Luke’s wording of the Lord’s Prayer. The official version adopted by the Church is Matthew’s, which is longer and more liturgical, with its seven petitions. Luke’s is shorter, containing only five petitions, but is more directly personal. Instead of “Our Father who art in heaven,” as in Matthew, Luke’s version begins with the simple cry “Father!” It is a form of address that would not have been on the lips of anyone but Jesus. It originated in, and revealed, his profound bond with the Father. Jesus was Son of God in the depth of his being.
The early Christians, especially those who listened to St Paul, cherished the moment of Baptism when they became children of God. In the depths of their hearts they could hear the Spirit of Jesus urging them to make their own his intimacy with God, “Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). This title of familiarity expressed perfectly the sweet intimacy and total confidence of their new status. Even as it revealed the core identity of Jesus, it makes us aware of the dignity of our adoption as children of the Father. Who better to introduce us to prayer than Jesus himself and, of course, the Holy Spirit he shares with us?
Our interior life
When the Old Testament calls God “Father” it means guardian of the people or of groups within the nation (see Deut 32:6; Ps 68:5; Is 63:16; 64:8; Jer 3:4, Mal l:6,2:10). There is a more personal touch in Sirach 23:1,4. But neither in the Old Testament nor in the writings of Qumran is such an intimacy with God expressed as in Luke 11:2. The repeating of the word “Abba” in Romans 8:15, Gal 4:6 and Mark 14:36 shows how the early Christians were aware of Jesus’ intimacy with the Father.
The simple prayer taught by Jesus contrasts with the fulsome formulations used in Jewish and Greco-Roman prayers, not to mention some modern equivalents! Although “abba” can be translated “daddy,” one should not think of God as a weakly indulgent “papa,” spoiling his children by granting every whim and never correcting them. On the contrary, Jesus taught much about our duties to love our enemies and to trust, love and reverence the heavenly Father, who is the Lord God Almighty.
There is a positive value in praying alone as well as in praying with others. Not only did he pray in the garden and in quiet places, but Jesus also prayed in the synagogue and in the temple. He would have said the Shema, the daily prayer of a faithful Jew, about loving God with all our heart and soul. And in the temple he blamed the priests for failing to make it a house of prayer for all nations. Do we ourselves pray daily? Do we pray that God’s will be done? And do we give thanks in all circumstances?
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Key Message:
The greatest gift our Father can give us is not what we desire, but the Holy Spirit, who teaches us what to desire.
Homily:
Testimony: “Once I became very anxious because all of my friends and relatives were doing their first job, their spouses were also working, and they were continuously exploring more avenues for increasing their income. I was the only earning member in my family, and my income was sufficient for living a calm life. While I was doing my morning walk and thinking about this, the Holy Spirit guided me. He showed me the
beautiful flowers to my right and reminded me of God’s promise: “Mathew 6:30 – See how the flowers of the field grow…. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?” I am thanking Jesus for blessing me with His Holy Spirit. Otherwise, I too would have unnecessarily ventured into some business and lost my peace like my friends.”
Our Lord Jesus does not offer coins, comforts, or crowns, but He promises the Holy Spirit, the breath of God. Is there any gift greater than the Holy Spirit for which we can aspire? The Holy Spirit is the most precious gift of all gifts that our God can offer!! Do not tire of asking. Do not grow weary of knocking. Do not be ashamed of your tears or your weakness. Your Father sees. Your Father knows. Your Father loves you.
Our Jesus does not expect perfection from us. He lovingly handed the key to the Gates of Heaven to the one who rejected Him thrice. So do not feel too little to ask for the Holy Spirit. All the Apostles were also too little before the Holy Spirit filled them. It is only the Holy Spirit who can make us big. So you are never wrong in asking for the Holy Spirit.
When the Apostles were in the upper room, hiding in fear, it was the Holy Spirit who gave them boldness to preach.
When the Apostles stood before the crowds on Pentecost, it was not their wisdom, it was the Spirit speaking through them.
When St. Peter sat in prison, bound with chains, it was the Holy Spirit who brought peace, even behind locked doors.
Now that same Spirit is for you.
Ask.
Ask boldly.
Ask with a heart that says, “I don’t want more of the world; I want more of Jesus.”
You may not feel worthy. No one can feel worthy.
You may not understand everything. No one understood everything.
But when you open your heart and say, “Come, Holy Spirit,” you give permission to Jesus to transform you.
When the Holy Spirit lives in us, our hearts will be reordered. We are no longer beggars of the earth, but heirs of Heaven.
Meditation:
Close your eyes. In the quiet of your heart, imagine yourself as a child, approaching the Father, not with fear, but with trust. Your hands are empty. You feel your poverty. Now, hear the gentle voice of Jesus saying:
“Ask… and it will be given to you. Your Father longs to give you the Holy Spirit.”
Now ask Him. Not for things, but for the Spirit. Whisper from your heart:
“Come, Holy Spirit. Fill my emptiness. Teach me to desire the things of God. Breathe in me, that I may love as You love.”
Let this become your heart’s silent longing.
St. Augustine said, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
Let us not be content with passing gifts. Ask for the Giver. And when He gives Himself, we shall lack nothing.
The Prayer that Will Always be Answered
One of the four Venezuelan men released from a prison in El Salvador where they had been deported from the USA and had suffered months of ill-treatment told his abusers that vengeance belonged to God alone and that they would face His judgment some day. This is not a bad message, though it would have been more sublime to say ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do.’
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a primitive and unpleasant tale of divine vengeance, and to soften it a later editor prefixed to it the scene in which Abraham pleads with God for mercy on the inhabitants of the wicked city. The church chooses to highlight this scene, rather than the Sodom story itself, which has been mined by those who seek in Scripture nourishment for hate. Later in the book of Genesis we will meet sublime and moving scenes of forgiveness, as when Esau embraces his brother Jacob, forgetting the wrongs Jacob inflicted on him, or as when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers who had sought his life: ‘I am your brother, Joseph.’ We need to read the Bible in the way the Bible reads itself, when it overrides the bloodthirsty legends with prayer for forgiveness, not only for ourselves but for others.
The warrior God is overruled by a God whose nature is mercy, and who calls on us to turn to him in persistent prayer, assuring us that he is always ready to wipe away our transgressions. Abraham had a special status in God’s eyes, as the man with whom God forged his Covenant with his people. But always modest, he fears that he will abuse his status by pestering the Lord unduly. Nonetheless, spurred by compassion, he wrestles with the Lord in prayer, bargaining with him, and finding that again and again the Lord yields to his request. Note that the story has a positive ending – it stops at the number 10, and does not continue to the Lord’s decision to wipe out Sodom. It opens up a vista of infinite divine mercy, despite the grueling legend it introduces.
The theme of forgiveness rises to prominence in the New Testament, in which Jesus at the start of his ministry is proclaimed as the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, and in which one of his first acts is to tell a paralytic: ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The Pauline letters assure us again and again that ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world with himself’ and in the same breath remind us that ‘since God has forgiven you in Christ, you also ought to forgive one another.’ The reading from Colossians tells us that God has not only forgiven, but also forgotten our sins.
In the shorter version of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke’s Gospel ‘forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us’ emerges as the most striking of its five petitions. We need not be tied up in knots of morose guiltiness. Like Abraham we can dare to ask the Lord for full, abundant forgiveness, for ourselves and others. Thinking of the horrors of Sudan and South Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Yemen, and of the torture that goes on in prisons, we may feel that these crimes will never be forgiven, but will continue to bring in a harvest of hate for a long, long time. Yet there are no limits to divine mercy. We see ancient enemies living in amity today: France and Germany, America and Russia, despite great horrors of not so long ago.
The power of prayer frees our hearts. We can bring it to bear on the world’s ills. We can use it to beat down the gates of Heaven. It can shape up into instruments of peace, ambassadors of peace, for a world so much in need of this. ‘The help of God is nearer than the door’ says an Irish proverb. One of the things our Father most wants to give us is his infinite mercy, his endless forgiveness, for ourselves and those who have sinned against us. “Seek and you will find,” because what you seek is near at hand, a reservoir of grace that is a balm for a world riven by hate. So when we say ‘let us pray’ let it never be a mere formality. It is more like a battle cry, ‘let us wrestle with the God whose nature is always to have mercy, so that He may release the hidden springs of mercy, forgiveness, and love that are ready to spring up in our hearts when they are touched by the Gospel.’
Even after a genuine act of forgiveness towards your perpetrator be it person or institution, can take months or years for your feelings to catch up. Even Jesus on the cross “felt” abandoned. Hang in, the congruence between act and feelings is a slow recovery in many cases.
I wrote “Russia” instead of “Japan” by mistake in my post. Here is a passage from the Ratnavali, a letter in verse from Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna to a king about 1800 years ago:
King, out of compassion you should always
focus your mind on
benefiting all beings, even those
who have committed the most serious sins.
You should particularly have compassion for
those who have committed the grave sin
of murder; these ones who have ruined themselves
are indeed worthy of great persons’ compassion.
Either every day or every five days,
release the weakest prisoners.
Of the remaining ones, let there not be any
who are never released at some appropriate point. (4.31-3
If the tree of your kingship offers
the open flowers of respect, the shade of tolerance,
and the great fruit of generosity,
then the birds, your subjects, will flock to it. (4.40)