Homily: September 18, 2023, Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time (Men should pray)

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 "It is my desire, then, that in every place, men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument."

What a beautiful vision St. Paul had! Imagine if all people are prayerful and peaceful, no anger, no argument. The world would really be perfect.

It is through prayerfulness that we learn to be deeply peaceful people, and I too desire to attain this. My papa and grandma were two great examples of prayerfulness for me. 

Grandma was completely blind before I was born and she was living in my home. In my memory, she prayed the rosary all the time and she would spend hours reciting all the other prayers daily which she had memorized by heart. I have never seen her forgetting her prayers or skipping her rosary for even one day.

My papa, too, had always kept a regular and consistent prayer routine. He read the Bible and devoted a good amount of time for prayer on a daily basis. I also do not recall seeing him miss a single day of his beautiful habit. I do regret though for having not asked my grandma or papa about their secret to maintaining consistency in their prayer.

How could they be so devoted and disciplined, being so dedicated to prayer everyday all through their adult lives?

And I believe those were the reasons why my grandma and papa were both calm, wise and compassionate personalities. 

I have tried to be prayerful too. Some days I would pray fervently and would meditate deeply on the mysteries of the rosary. However, there were more days when I felt dull and dry during prayer, lacking focus and intent. I am not consistent and not regular. I am not always calm and still experience anxieties and restlessness.

Thus, I do desire and wish for the vision of St. Paul, not just for myself but for everyone.

I recall one phrase from Sunday’s first reading which struck me: "Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then, when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven."

To forgive is to be rid of anger, to be peaceful is to avoid argument. With this spirit of forgiveness of others, can we then experience the joy of being forgiven when we pray.

So, let us learn to pray without anger and argument, let us raise our holy hands in prayer, let us be a blessing to others and thus receive blessings for ourselves. Jesus was always praying, may we too pray in the same spirit like our Master and teacher. Amen


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