"Olympic Gold" - Training by Prayer

Olympic Gold This week, the world is watching the finest athletes show the fruits of lifetimes of training and discipline. The hard work might culminate in glory on top of the medal stand or the agony of defeat. One Swedish weightlifter threw his medal away- leading spectators talking steroids and javellin throwers criticizing his throwing technique). For us normal folks, the Olympics means just another week of getting fatter on our couches and assuring our girlfriends that we are superior basketballers, soccer players, and water poloers* than those so-called Olympians. Also, the Olympics is a great time to show that democracy is better than communism by dominating the communists in the trampoline event (yes, that's an actual event). At the Olympics, China hopes to prove its emergence as a world superpower by conquering the most dangerous territory in the world- the badminton courts.

*(you owe me a 5-cent royalty for every time you use the word water poloer)

But seriously, this week's commentary will focus on a relatively unknown champion of prayer, the Canaanite woman. There is commentary following the Gospel. The other readings are at the end.


Gospel Mt 15:21-28 At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.



The Source of Evil

The Canaanite woman (Canaanite) shows her faith immediately when she names the cause of her problem- a demon. A couple of months ago, I wrote that sin is what we should fear.³ It is not the devil that we should fear because he is no match for God. It is our COOPERATION with the devil that we should fear. Ultimately, he cannot force us into hell without our consent. But, knowing that this world is ruled by the devil and that "he is author and instigator of all evils"¹ IS important. It is important because many of us think that we are enemies of each other. I used to go to abortion clinics to pray, thinking that the abortion doctors were our enemies. I soon realized that they are VICTIMS. They have been deceived by the Father of Lies and are in need of our prayers. And that goes along with Jesus' command to "love our enemies". The Canaanite knew what afflicted her daughter. She could have blamed her husband, her physician, or the beef salesman at the marketplace. Instead of naming them as enemies, she knew that "our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.²

^{3 http://massexcitement.blogspot.com/search/label/fear}

Enemies

This is a very important distinction because we Christians have difficulties with people all of the time. If we think that our brothers and sisters are our enemies, we will treat them accordingly. In some cases, we end up killing our brothers and sisters because we see them as enemies. Another reason why it is important to identify the enemy is so that we can defend ourselves against him on our way to heaven. Jesus calls the devil the Father of Lies. The devil's first words to Eve were lies which ultimately lead to her death and and the death of billions of humans through sin. How can knowing this information help us in our relationship with God? Our relationship with God depends on what we do. He has already died on the cross for us and will always love us to the maximum. During this life, we can choose how to react to God's love and this will determine the quality of our relationship with him. We love him back by following his commandments. The devil wants us to spend an eternity in hell with him. His game plan is to tell us not to believe what God says. Here is why it important to recognize the devil and his works in this life, and here is how we can recognize his lies:

Recognizing Lies Easily

If someone (always a victim of the devil's lies) tells us to do something that is against Jesus teachings and against the Church's teachings, we can recognize it as a lie and an attempt of the devil to send us to hell. Some saints have been known to be masters of discerning whether something is coming from the devil or from God and here is a simple and powerful way to tell where something is coming from. When people tell us that :

• we don't have to attend church
• we can get divorced if we want
• it's okay to have pre-maritial sex as long as you love the person
• you don't have to pray in order to know God
• it's okay to hoard our wealth rather than share it

We can recognize immediately that these are lies spun by the devil and thus we can quietly and confidently ignore these lies. God wants us to know his enemy and how he operates. The Canaanite knew this. Another important thing to note is that this conversation she had with Jesus was a prayer. Isn't that what prayer is- a conversation with God? And so who does the Canaanite run to when her daughter is in trouble? She asks not her friends, doctors, or WebMD to help, but rather she goes straight to God with her concern. We should learn from this and seek God in prayer when we need help. Let's look at modern-day prayer

Praying Today

For almost all of my life, I prayed before some meals and sometimes at night for 30 seconds. This prayer had very little effect on my relationship with God and I never felt like it made us any closer. We are reminded in this Gospel that prayer is a conversation with a person- Jesus (and the Father, Holy Spirit - God). Now what if I started calling my best friend for 30 seconds every other day and before some meals for 30 seconds? What would happen to our relationship? It would dwindle down to nothing just like the people we send Christmas cards to once a year without talking to them. My friend would get pissed if I rarely spoke to him and for only 60 seconds at a time maximum. God wants MORE than a pretend relationship like this.

Dry Prayers

What if every time my friend came over to my house I picked up a book off the shelf and started reading it to him? He would probably get annoyed and it would not be as a good as actual conversation. This is what it sounds like to God when we recite prayers like the "bless us oh Lord for these thy gifts...." and "our father who art in heaven..." without even thinking about God. These prayers in themselves are good and I pray them myself routinely. But these prayers are not enough. God is a person. He wants a relationship. We have to spend TIME talking to him just like any other friend. When I started to pray at length to God, I found that it got better and better. So did our relationship. It reminds me of playing the violin. After I play for 30 minutes straight, it gets easier and easier and soon I am in rhythm. Not much later, I get on fire with the violin and it sounds great! The same goes for prayer. If we want to know God, we have to talk to him at length. Just like with any relationship, we have to work hard like the best Olympians- not like couch potatoes.

The Point

• All evil originates from the Devil. He is our enemy- not our brothers and sisters
• We should pray for our Earthly enemies. They are victims of the devil's lies.
• EVERYTHING we hear that is against Jesus and the Church's teachings (they are the same) is a lie. We shouldn't do what liars tell us to do
• Praying for 60 seconds per day is not enough
• God is a person. We have to work at our relationship with him and spend time talking to him
• formal prayers are not enough for a relationship with God. God desires sincere conversation with him.
• 8 hours of prayer a day is not necessary, but prayer often improves as the conversations get longer.

Real Life

During the last 11 months, I spent a lot of time visiting jail inmates and the poor. Every time we participated in these ministries, we prayed a long exorcism prayer to St. Michael asking for protection against the devil and his angels. This prayer was recommended by Pope John Paul II. The man who suggested this prayer during our ministries was very aware of the devil's hatred of the ministries we participated in. Anyhow, we missionaries were constantly aware of the enemy and said prayers against him. A few months ago, I was doing my regular jail visit in Juarez. When we entered the secured area near the cells, we heard the VERY loud screaming of a young lady in custody. She was wrestling very frantically with some cops and screaming "release me, release me!!!!!!" Even after they put her on the ground by herself, she continued to scream and scream. This was very unusual. Not long afterwards one person in our group was preaching to the inmates when suddenly, I saw some people carry out one of the inmates by his hands and feet as he yelled and struggled. At that point, it seemed clear that the devil was very upset with our presence that day. This type of thing (the nature and quantity of screaming and carrying a guy out of the cell) was very unusual. Soon after the man was carried out, we prayed right outside of the cells and asked the inmates to join us in a prayer out loud. I felt grace and soon I was weeping. I noticed that many of the inmates were weeping which was unusual. God was doing something great for all of us on that day. When one of the missionaries laid hands on the inmates, they started staggering, as though they were about to faint and they all cried. I think the devil was mad that we were there that day because God had plans to deliver tremendous graces. Actually, that day, we were short-handed for the first time in my memory. Perhaps God wanted to remind us to rely on him and would provide us with the help we needed. Just this past week, my mom lost her purse and she was very upset. She started crying so, I pulled out my copy of the exorcism prayer almost immediately after I prayed it, she found the purse.

God Loves Us!

Click here to view and print the prayer http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/3543/exorcism.htm

Pope JP 2 recommends the prayer
http://www.tldm.org/News6/exorcism.htm

1- CCC 2854
2- Ephesians 6:12
3- http://massexcitement.blogspot.com/search/label/fearr

Reading 1 Is 56:1, 6-7 Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants— all who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 R. (4) O God, let all the nations praise you! May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us. So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation. R. O God, let all the nations praise you! May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide. R. O God, let all the nations praise you! May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him! R. O God, let all the nations praise you!

Reading II Rom 11:13-15, 29-32 Brothers and sisters: I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

What to Fear

This week, we are talking about:

What is sin?
Why are we sinful?
What should we fear?

There is commentary following the gospel, but most of the commentary relates to the 2nd reading.

Reading 1
Jer 20:10-13

Jeremiah said:
“I hear the whisperings of many:
‘Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!’
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
‘Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him.’
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe mind and heart,
let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
for he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!”

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my children,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness;
in your great mercy turn toward me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!"
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Reading II
Rom 5:12-15

Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin
after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.

But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.

Gospel
Mt 10:26-33

Jesus said to the Twelve:
“Fear no one.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Commentary

We all know the story of Adam and Eve. But in the 2nd reading, Paul discusses our first parents so it’s important that we understand what happened.

It’s very important to understand sin because without God letting us know what the problem with sin is , we cannot understand it completely. If we better understand sin as God teaches us, we will take our decisions seriously and do all that we can to avoid sinning. Sin is bad because it is offensive to God. We should stop sinning for the right reason, because it hurts God and it is offensive to him and causes separation between us and God. Below is an easy explanation:

Quitting For the Right Reason

In a very simple analogy, let’s imagine for a moment that I am married. I cheat on my wife. I now have an STD (sexually transmitted disease). So I approach my wife and tell her that I have been cheating on her and now have an STD. I tell my wife that because the STD is causing uncomfortable symptoms, I have decided to quit cheating.

Now how would she react to this incident? She would get mad, sad, and then angry because I don’t’ want to quit cheating on her for the right reason. The worst part of my cheating is not the disease that I caught. The worst part of my cheating is that it HURTS MY WIFE and it HURTS ME! Cheating is offensive to my wife. Just the same, we have to quit sinning for the right reason. We have to understand what sin IS and what we are to do about it. To understand sin, we have to acknowledge that it is an offense against God and that’s why we should be sorry for sin. Natural consequences like STD’s should not be the reason to stop sinning.

Let’s look at Adam and Eve in order to understand better. Adam and Eve were born holy.(CCC 399) But after listening to the serpent, Eve ate the fruit and then Adam did the same.

Lack of Trust

The sin of Adam and Eve was a sin against God. In the first sin, “man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command.” Here we see a clear description of sin and what is at the root - lack of trust. Adam did not trust God who told Adam that if he ate the fruit, he would die. Adam did not believe it. He did not trust the word of his creator.

Another example: God loves me, and he asks that I tell the truth at all times. For example, my wife asks me if I watered the plants while she was out of town. I lie to her because I forgot to water the plants. So, what happens? She finds out the truth on her own. She is sad and understandably upset. She begins to wonder what else I lie to her about. She begins to wonder what sort of man she has married. We start arguing and I start wondering why she loves her plants more than she loves me and I start wondering what sort of woman I have married. As you can see here, sin creates lots of problems and mistrust immediately.

In this example, I know it’s a sin against God to lie. But I thought to myself, “hey God, it’s okay to lie to my wife about the plants because she is not going to find out and it’s really not a big deal. I know you told me to NEVER lie, but I’m not so sure you are right about this. I am going to take matters into my own hands here because I know my wife very well.”

At the heart of EVERY sin is disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.¹ In this example, I would have been better off listening to God and telling the truth. Disobeying God is an offense against God, but I must keep in mind that God wants what’s best for me and my wife. He wants me and my wife to be happy. That’s why he commands me to tell the truth.

We are Christians and we believe in God. When we sin, we say with our actions that WE DO NOT TRUST God. Now that is a terrible statement to make to God and we all know that actions speak louder than words. We should use our actions to praise God, not to curse him.

Sin Goggles

In case you didn’t know, wearing “beer goggles” means you are drunk. The alcohol distorts your senses including your vision. And so, you are wearing “beer goggles”. Sin works in the same way. In Genesis Chapter 3, Adam and Eve sin and their immediate reaction is to hide. Had God done anything to Adam or Eve that they should fear him? Of course not, God was only loving to them both. He was thinking about Adam when he made Eve because he said, “it is not good for the man to be alone.”² Also, God had lovingly given everything to Adam including life and power over all the animals and food and drink.

Yet Adam and Eve were afraid of their loving God after they sinned. They suddenly had a different view of God. That’s why they hid after they had sinned. They had on “sin goggles”. Because of the “sin goggles”, Adam immediately saw Eve in a different way as well. He complained to God, “The woman whom you put here with me- she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” Eve because of the fear and shame that sin brought, also joined in the blame game by pointing out the serpent.

When I sin, I not only become ashamed but I also become afraid. I become afraid of God and afraid of others. I even start to become suspicious of God and his love. I am sure that no sin, not even the smallest, is worth committing.

Original Sin

In the 2nd reading, Paul says that, “through sin, death came to all men.” He is talking about Adam and his sin against God, which resulted in Adam’s eventual death. Yet, “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam.” That means that people continued to be sinful after Adam and they also died. In order to explain what this means, I’d like to use another example:

Someone told me that there was a hidden camera study done a while back. Kids were told to wait in a room. They were also told not to look in a certain area of the room. Every kid in the test would wait for the adult to leave the room and would then look at the one place they were told not to.

And so, our nature is partially corrupted because of the sin of Adam and Eve. We are drawn towards sin. It is important to be aware of our sinful nature. Because of this, we understand our need for salvation. Also, all people are connected to each other. And so, when one of us sins, all of us are hurt. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we suffer. The good news is that because Jesus became human, we are also connected to HIM just as we are connected to Adam. And so we benefit and are saved by Jesus’ death on the cross. In Romans 5:18, Paul says, “just as through one transgression (one sin) condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.”

Fear- Commentary on 1st Reading and Gospel

In the first reading, Jeremiah says, “the Lord is with me……Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!” In the Gospel, Jesus says, “Fear no one.” The readings discuss fear.

And so as a common person, here are some things I fear:

• I’m afraid to lose my job or to fail at school
• I’m afraid my wife/girlfriend will leave me
• I’m afraid I won’t be able to pay the bills
• I’m afraid that my friends will make fun of me
• I’m afraid people will find out the bad things I have done
• I’m afraid of being unwanted
• I’m afraid of dying
• I’m afraid of being ugly

To this Jesus, says “Fear no one.” Getting killed, losing our jobs, losing our boyfriends/girlfriends, or being humiliated, is not what we should fear. Jesus assures us that God is watching and protecting us constantly. “Even all the hairs of your head are counted.” God even keeps a watch over the birds. If God keeps his eyes on birds, he certainly keeps his eyes on us as well, and so we have nothing to fear- except one thing.

We must fear “the one who can destroy both soul and body”. Jesus is talking about the devil. What does the devil want man to do? He wants man to disobey God and to sin. He started with the first man Adam and he wants EVERY man to do the same. He even approached the man Jesus. The devil wants the exact opposite of what God wants. God wants us to “have life and have it more abundantly.”³ The devil wants us to disobey God the same way HE does and the devil knows that sin leads to the death of “both soul and body in Gehenna.”

The good news is that the devil is no match for the creator of the universe so truly we can have confidence in our almighty and loving Lord. However, it is important that we recognize “the broad road which leads to destruction”. ⁴ Although we needn’t fear anything in this world especially our petty concerns, we must recognize that our humanity is corrupted and we are drawn towards sin. We must constantly rely on the Lord for help by asking him to help us. As our lives become holier, we won’t have to rely on ourselves for protection. We will say just as Jeremiah said in the first reading, “the Lord is with me like a mighty champion”. We will grow in confidence that God will protect us from “the power of the wicked.”


The Point

• We must quit sinning for ONE reason. God loves us and we should respond by LOVING him, not by offending him. Sin is bad because it is an offense against God.
• Every sin is a statement to God that WE DO NOT TRUST HIM. We tell God that we know better than he knows.
• Sin immediately causes fear and shame. (is that true for you?) Sin even causes us to be suspicious and distrustful of our God, ourselves, and others as well.
• Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, our nature is corrupted and sinful.
• Because of God’s death on the cross, he paid the price for Adam and Eve’s sin and ours as well.
• We have many fears, but the only thing to fear is sin.

Real Life

Here is a prayer we can share:

Lord,

I am a sinner. Because of my sins, I have spent my life afraid and ashamed. I have been afraid of the future. I have been afraid of what I did yesterday. I have been afraid of what others think of me. I have been afraid of criticism. I need your help Lord. Shelter me, protect me, teach me and forgive me. I know you are with me Lord. You are walking with me. I am confident with you at my side. With you at my side, the devil will tremble and flee. I want to be with you for the rest of eternity. I am not afraid any more. I pray that the rest of my life will be pleasing to you. Stay with me Lord forever….




==============================================Mass Excitement======================







1- CCC 397
2- Genesis 2:18
3- John 10:10
4- Matthew 7:13