Answering the Bell

Gospel: Luke 11: 5-13

Jesus gives an analogy to prayer: people in need asking for help from their neighbor, from their parents.  Here the idea is that prayer reminds us that we are dependent upon God for all things as a child is dependent on her parents, or a needy neighbor is dependent on the help of others to provide when they are unable to do so for themselves.

But the analogy is also a reminder that we ought not to pray for things that we ourselves have agency and power to control.  We can relieve the hunger of a starving person; we ought not pray about that.  We have the power to avert war - we certainly have no trouble creating them; we ought not pray about that either.  It is folly to pray to God for things we are able but unwilling to do for ourselves and the world.   It is further folly to blame God for that which we have created and which we have power to resolve.

If we are to pray about these things, we seek the wisdom from God to be part of the solution to the problems we see in the world.  How can I help relieve poverty in the world? How can I be a sower of peace in the world? Here we pray for the grace from God to take up these tasks and for the wisdom to discover their solutions.