Homily: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Year C
Genesis 18:20–32 | Psalm 138 | Colossians 2:12–14 | Luke 11:1–13
27 July 2025
Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez, AA
How do you pray? Do you follow what is recommended in Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”? Or do you like praying with friends — eyes closed, hands raised in the air and swaying to music? Or do you prefer to pray on your knees in church reciting the rosary and novenas? Or do you prefer to sit under a tree, silence yourself and just be aware that God is present?
These are all perfectly good ways to pray. Some critics of Catholicism fault us for having “formulaic prayers” whereas they claim to pray “from the heart”. Do you agree with them? What they call “memorised prayers” are actually people’s heartfelt pleas to God that have proven effective in sanctifying them and obtaining graces. These communal prayers help us to pray together especially when we pray aloud in groups. Imagine the noise and disorder if we gathered here and said out loud our personal prayers! On the other hand, when we pray in private, styles can vary, using words, works, and even silence. What is important is that we pray with openness and honesty, trusting that God is listening and communing with us.
When we pray, do we find ourselves struggling for the “right” words? Do we believe that we have to sound “nice” in our prayer even if we are hurt, tired or frustrated? Do we make an effort to be polite in prayer, telling God only what we think He wants to hear, not what we are really feeling? Why “filter” ourselves? God sees through us and knows us better than we know ourselves and He loves us, no matter what. We have no reason to hide. We can be real with Him. He is not offended by who we are especially when we are wounded, confused, and even angry.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a story about a man who knocks on his friend’s door at midnight asking for help. (Sa dis-oras ng gabi, nanggugulo.) It was undeniably inconvenient for his friend, but he was not afraid to impose because He trusted that by sheer persistence, his friend would overlook the impropriety of his timing and approach and address his need. (Ang nagmamalasakit, minsan nakukuha din sa pangungulit.) Jesus says: Pray like that. Knock like that. Come to God like that. According to Bible commentators, the original Greek word used for “persistence” in this Gospel is anaideia, which literally means shamelessness (walang hiya-hiya). Jesus is saying: When we pray, we have to be shameless. We have to be bold. We have to be real.
We see that kind of prayer in Abraham. He “haggles” with God. “What if there are Fifty? Forty-five? Forty? Thirty?” He was not ashamed to bargain with God. (Hindi siya nahiya na makipagtawaran sa Diyos.) He was not being disrespectful, just brutally honest. Abraham knew he was speaking to Someone who listens… Someone who cares.
This same honesty — sometimes even desperation — is even more powerfully evident in the Psalms, particularly the Lamentations. These are the kind of prayers we often ignore or try to sanitise. But just listen to how raw these words are:
• “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1)
• “Why do You sleep, O Lord? Wake up!” (Psalm 44:23)
• “My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?” (Psalm 22:1 — which Jesus Himself prayed on the cross.)
These are not pleasant and polite prayers. They are cries; “tantrums” of faith. They are the prayers of people who are not afraid to tell God the truth about what they are feeling — because they know God can handle it.
Pope Francis once said: “We must pray to the Lord with truth — the truth of our heart. Let us not be afraid to say to Him exactly what we feel. The prayer that Jesus taught us is one where we dare to call God ‘Father.’ It is that relationship between Father and child (even adopted children as we all are) that cuts away the pretence and the shyness. He is a loving Father who listens unconditionally and is generous with His children even when we can be disappointing to Him. Sometimes, the most faithful prayer is not “Lord, Thy will be done” — but “Lord, I don’t understand Your will right now, and I am struggling to trust.” That is still prayer. And sometimes, it is the kind God loves most — because it is real. Prayer, after all is not about sounding holy. It is about being honest and sincere.
So, I invite you, brothers and sisters: Let us start praying as we are, not the way we think God wants to hear us. Let us come to Him tired. Let us come to Him confused. Let us come to Him full of questions. Let us come to Him even when we are angry. Let us not be afraid. He is always waiting with love. When we knock honestly — even shamelessly — the door will be opened. And the Father, who knows our hearts better than we do, will gladly welcome us!
Sunday Gospel Reflections 