Response to tragedy: Prayer is one of the most essential things we can do, Deacon Ron's Homily, Week 17, Cycle C

With the news of all the recent violence affecting innocent people around the world and our own country many of us may have concerns and wonder what we can do. We are all pretty far removed from most of the situations and not personally involved. But we can have empathy for those impacted and may have concerns about something happening in our own community. What can we do in response to these troubling situations? Prayer is one of the most essential things we can do.

I’d like to share a story from someone who was personally affected by a recent tragedy and how prayer helped. 

(From National Catholic Register, July 22, 2016)

Some people have difficulty praying in times of trouble. But for Magnificat magazine columnist Jennifer Hubbard, prayer got her through one of the worst times of her life.

“We’re all going to face trials; we’re all going to face tragedies,” Hubbard said. “My tragedy was my daughter being murdered. Someone else’s tragedy could be [hearing] the doctor, who says the cancer is no longer treatable.”

“When you are intimate with that darkness, prayer turns your attention to God, in allowing this peace to settle on your soul, despite whatever chaos is circling around you,” she told CNA.

Hubbard and her family know times of tragedy, indeed. Her 8-year-old daughter, Catherine Violet, was one of the 20 children and six adults killed by a solo gunman in the December 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Conn.

For Hubbard, the prayers of others meant the world to her and her husband.

“There’s no way, I believe, that we as a family, we as a community, could have walked through the darkness without the prayers of so many,” she said.  “There were many days that were just very dark.”

She suggested that people who have problems praying sometime struggle with the fact that there is not something physical or material they can do or give.

“They feel like prayer is not enough,” she said.

But as she sees it, prayer prepares people “to focus on God and the love that he has for us vs. the trial and tribulation.”

“I truly believe that if you do nothing else in the course of a day, if you spend your time praying, you’ve done more than you can ever imagine,” she added.

“You’re praying with the trust that your prayer is going to be answered, but you’re also praying with the understanding that God’s will is going to be best,” Hubbard said.

In the first reading we have a good example of Abraham in a relationship and

dialogue with God in prayer. Abraham pleads with God on behalf of a few innocent people to relent in his punishment.  Abraham doesn’t just ask once, but six times for God to be merciful to the people. This exchange really sounds like a personal relationship going on between Abraham and God. This example is one we can use in our own prayer by personally speaking to God.

Prayer is not just a one-way conversation.   It is a dialogue where we are talking and also listening to God.  Very few of us will have the direct feedback from God like Abraham did. But we do have the gift of the Holy Spirit, through our baptism and confirmation, which helps in discerning God’s response. Sometimes it takes time, quiet reflection, and new insights to determine how God answers.

I’d like to share some more from Jennifer Hubbard’s regarding answer to prayer:

The answer to prayer is not always what one expects.

During the attack on Sandy Hook, Hubbard and her husband waited at the firehouse with other families of staff and students, awaiting news about their loved ones.

“My prayer, when we were waiting for Catherine, was: ‘Bring her home, bring her home, dear God; keep her safe, and bring her home,’” she recounted.  “Yes, the prayer was: ‘Bring her back to the firehouse,’ and that didn’t happen.

Time continues to march forward — I see that my prayer was answered, over and over again.”

“Catherine’s home [with God]. He answered my prayer,” Hubbard added.

“And in answering my prayer and bringing her home, there’s the hope and understanding that I’ll see her again.

For Hubbard, sincere prayer expresses a hope that something will change.  For the one who prays, she said, there is beauty in that the change is in a person’s heart.

I really find this insight into prayer very helpful.  Prayer often is a request for God to do something: for him to directly intervene and change the situation to what we view as a positive outcome.  God can certainly do that. But the answer to prayer may most often be the change it brings in us to accept the situation and trust that God cares for us in the midst of difficult situation.  

I’d like to close with a final thought on the importance on being persistent in prayer just as Jesus tells us in our Gospel today.  We need pray not just when there is trouble, but also when times are good as well.  When we are persistent in prayer we are continually strengthening our relationship with God.  Having an ongoing consistent prayer life with God open us up to the graces that build a strong foundation to weather the storm when we encounter life’s challenges. It will provide us hope that we are not alone in our struggles and that God cares for us.

One final thought from Jennifer Hubbard on prayer:

“Prayer and hope go hand in hand,” she said. “Prayer is this ongoing, deep-rooted relationship and dialogue with the only One who can provide direction and meaning and peace to our lives.”

Now let us continue on with our prayer of the Mass and be strengthened in the Eucharist by the one who listens and answers our prayer.