Gen. 18:20-32; Col.
2:12-14; Lk. 11:1-13
Dear brothers and sisters
Gahlaur is a remote and backward village in Bihar.
In 1960s caste system prevailed there. People belonging to backward castes were
ill-treated. 'Development' seemed to be an alien term for them. Poor villagers
had to
traverse through a narrow and treacherous pass to cross a huge mountain, located between Attari and Wazirgunj blocks in Gaya district, for their daily needs and for transport connectivity.
traverse through a narrow and treacherous pass to cross a huge mountain, located between Attari and Wazirgunj blocks in Gaya district, for their daily needs and for transport connectivity.
Dashrath Manji, a farmer and Falguni, his wife
lived in that village. One day Falguni, who was pregnant, was taking lunch
for her husband to the fields, for which she needed to climb the mountain in
the scorching heat. Unfortunately, Falguni's foot slipped and she fell down
from the mountain. Someone from the village alerted Dashrath that his wife had
fallen down from the mountain. Dashrath took her blood-splattered wife to
the nearest hospital that was 70 kms away, where she was declared brought dead.
The heart-broken Manjhi, who loved his wife more
than anything else in the world, began cursing the huge mountain. In the memory
of his beloved wife, determined Manjhi took a hammer and a chisel and embarked
on a tough and almost impossible mission. He decided to carve out a path, so
that no other person suffers like his wife. Villagers and even his father ridiculed
him for challenging a huge mountain. But Manjhi was adamant on his firm
decision.
Dashrath, single-handedly carved out a 360-feet-long, 30-feet-high and 30-feet-wide passage through the mountain. He made the difference into the lives of villagers by shortening the 55 kms distance into 15 kms. With chisel and hammer he worked 22 years (from 1960 to 1982) to achieve his mission.
Dashrath, single-handedly carved out a 360-feet-long, 30-feet-high and 30-feet-wide passage through the mountain. He made the difference into the lives of villagers by shortening the 55 kms distance into 15 kms. With chisel and hammer he worked 22 years (from 1960 to 1982) to achieve his mission.
In 2011: Government officially named the road as
"Dashrath Manjhi Path"
It is a story of great persistence.
Today’s reading tells us the importance of being persistent in prayer.
To be persistent means to continue without stopping. It means to start
something and to finish it to the end.
Reviewing today's First Reading from the Book of Genesis we see that the
Lord God had come down from Heaven to go and visit the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah because of the outcries against them that were reaching the Heavenly
Throne. During this visit, Abraham was concerned that God would destroy Sodom
if fifty righteous souls were not found within the city. On behalf of a lesser
number of righteous souls, even ten, Abraham obtained God's unconditional
promise that He would not destroy the city. Abraham was persistent in his
request and the Lord accepted his Plea.
Today's Gospel reading reminds us of the necessity to persevere in
our prayer life. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, our
Lord taught them the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father.
To emphasize the importance of persevering in prayer, Jesus gave the
story of a friend who arrived at midnight and the necessity to go next door to
one's neighbour to borrow three loaves of bread. Under normal circumstances, it
is expected that the neighbour will complain because of the hour during which
the request is made. It must be realized that in those days, to open the door
meant to remove a very large wooden or iron bar from the door that was shut. To
do so was tiresome and noisy. Furthermore, the entire family slept on a mat in
the peasant house that was single-roomed. To open the door meant to disturb the
entire family from its sleep.
Jesus told them that "because of his persistence he will get up and
give him whatever he needs.
He told his listeners: ‘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
doors will be opened.'
The concluding words are very important. 'Is there any father 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!'
Just before the most important moments of Jesus’ life we find him in
prayer. Jesus was praying when he Spirit came upon him in the Jordan River.
Jesus regularly with drew to some lonely places to pray after a day of
preaching. He spent the whole night in prayer before choosing the
Apostles. He was at prayer when transfiguration took place. He prayed
intensely at Gethsemane at the beginning of his passion. On the cross he prayed
for those who had crucified him.
But there is a great difference from the prayer of Abraham to Yahweh and
our prayer. Abraham did not give up until he got what he desired.
Jesus said two parables to teach about the importance of persistence
prayer. The one that we heard in today’s Gospel and the parable of the
persistent widow.
He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared
God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in
that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against
my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though
I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because
this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she
won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
The prophet Daniel was a man of prayer. During his time of captivity in
Babylon, while serving in the royal courts of Babylon and then Persia, it was
his practice to pray toward Jerusalem three times a day (Daniel 6:10; see 2
Chronicles 6:38-39). We can learn from Daniel's prayer life that because
prayers are answered differently we should be persistent in prayer even if our
answers don't come immediately.
On one occasion, when Daniel realized that the Babylonian captivity was
to last 70 years (Daniel 9:2), he prayed a lengthy prayer of confession and
request for forgiveness for the Jews to God (Daniel 9:4-19). Before he even
finished his prayer, the angel Gabriel arrived and said, "At the beginning
of your supplication, the command went out, and I have come to tell you"
(Daniel 9:23). Daniel's prayer was answered before he even finished praying.
On another occasion Daniel began praying about a vision he had
received—he fasted and prayed ("mourning") for three weeks without
receiving an answer (Daniel 10:1-2). At the end of three weeks of prayer a
messenger from heaven appeared to Daniel to respond to his prayer.
It is a problem for us that our prayers are not
answered. It has been a problem for all ages. In Psalm 13 the psalmist
wonders why God is so slow in answering our prayers.
“How long, O
Lord? Will you forget me forever?”
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemies prevail over me?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemies prevail over me?
When we come to God with our request we often come
very casually. We ask and then leave. When we do not get an
immediate answer we return with the request but more urgently. The longer
we do without what we need, the more we are aware of its importance to us,
until like ancient Jacob we say “I will not let you go until you bless me.”
If we really need something from God, we will find ourselves returning again
and again.
There is a beautiful poem written by Minnie Louise
Haskins.
I
said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go into the darkness
and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be better to you than light
and safer than a known way.”
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go into the darkness
and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be better to you than light
and safer than a known way.”
So I
went forth and finding the hand of God
trod gladly into the night,
and he led me towards the hills
and the breaking of the day in the lone East.
trod gladly into the night,
and he led me towards the hills
and the breaking of the day in the lone East.
When we do not understand why answers
to our prayers are delayed, put our hand into God’s hand and continue to
pray for those things we know to be his will. Remember the promise of
Jesus: “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and
the door will be opened for you”.
Satish