Who have I quit on?

Homily

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas

16 October 2022

AMDG

Who have I quit on?

I'll make this pivotal question multiple choice.  Who have I quit on?

a) myself

b) my family

c) my friends

d) God

e) all of the above

f) none of the above

Today's scriptures are about not giving up on anyone, for any reason whatsoever.  The reason is that there is no quit in God.  He doesn't even consider quitting on us.  Jesus is always praying to His Father for us.  He doesn't want to know any different.  So too his disciples.  We are to pray always, without ceasing, with patience and perseverance.

Who I have I quit on?  The answer lies in the ways I have stopped praying.

Firstly, don't quit on yourself.  You are made to be a master of prayer!  Yes, you!  I roll my eyes whenever my spiritual direction reminds me of this, but it's true.  You are made for a never-ending conversation with God.  So don't quit.  To quit praying is to quit on yourself, for nothing happens in life without prayer!

Have I quit on my family?  Yea, in many ways I have.  I forget so easily that every great story is a miraculous comeback story!  Look at your favorite story or movie.  I guarantee you it's a story of prayer, a story of faith.  There has to be a less than 1% chance of things working out, for the story to be compelling.  The hero has to dare faith, to attempt the impossible, or the story lags.  When the impossible happens, glory results!  It can happen in your family.  It will happen.  Believe and pray!  Don't quit.

Friendships are costly!  I have betrayed friends and let them down.  I've been beat up myself. There is such a temptation to quit, to stop praying for friendships, for it's easier to go it alone.  Don't do it!  You are made to have friends and be a friend.  Believe, and pray!

Finally, have I quit on God?  I get it that it's hard to tell if prayer is working a lot of the time.  God can seem distant and slow.  Yet Jesus reassures us that He is merely increasing capacity for something more incredible, some more, to happen sooner than we dare ask for or imagine!  Believe, and pray!

I wish I prayed like I rooted for sports.  I decided long ago to be the best fan in the world.  Without bravado, I don't think there's a greater fan of his teams than me.  I always believe.  I never quit.  There's always a way for an incredible comeback.  I never quit.  I get mad at people who do.  I've been a part of too many comebacks to lose faith, or to stop praying.  It's a big reason why I take interest!

+mj