(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: https://brothersinchristcmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Mass-Blog-for-theThird-Sunday-of-Advent-2024.mp3)
Comedian George Carlin made people laugh, but he carried in his heart the anger of a confused atheist who lost faith in a God whose divine plan—he believed—could be changed by the whim of a random prayer.
“Trillions of prayers every day, begging for favors, but what about the Divine Plan?” he asked in one of his classic monologues. “Long time ago, God gave it a lot of thought, decided it was good and put it into practice. For billions of years it was doing just fine, then we come along and start praying for things. Suppose what you want isn’t in the plan? What’s the use of being God if every run-down jerk with a two-dollar prayer book can come along and screw up your plan? It all seems very confusing.”
Not really. Humanity’s unity with the Holy Spirit has always been God’s plan. So has the wild card of free will. That plan has never changed. Scripture tells us the power of darkness drew Adam and Eve to a selfishness designed to change God’s plan, but as the season of Advent teaches us, Jesus—son of God and son of man—came to baptize us right back into God’s plan of unifying light.
This Sunday of Advent, we realize we are part of God’s plan to be light to those imprisoned by enemies who baptize in the darkness of ego’s ignorance. The prophet Zephaniah was as passionate about saving people from such false gods as Carlin was about saving us from the real One.
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! … The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. (Zep 3:14-18a)
The heartfelt prayer Jesus taught us, “deliver us from evil,” was part of the divine plan to bring the peace of fearlessness to our hearts, as Paul tells us:
“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:4-7)
The power of such prayer is that it not only changes hearts, but encourages us to become God’s instruments for answering prayers. As Luke’s gospel tells us (Lk 3:10-18), people were asking John the Baptist, “what should we do?” He told them to come out of their darkness and into the light—to stop being each other’s—and therefore God’s—enemies. To the crowd he said: “Share food and clothing with those who have none.” To the tax collectors he said, “Stop extorting people.” To soldiers he said, “Stop the false accusations.”
He also seemed to be saying, get to know the power of the Holy Spirit. Get acquainted with the ability to answer each other’s prayers, for one is coming who will baptize you in that Holy Spirit.
Carlin concluded, “Suppose your prayers aren’t answered? Well, it’s God’s will. But if that’s the case, and he’s going to do what he wants anyway, why bother praying in the first place? Seems like a big waste of time. Couldn’t you just skip the prayer part and go right to his will?”
Prayer that changes hearts so we can answer prayers is God’s will. It’s the punchline to a divine plan.
–Tom Andel
The beauty of prayer is a submission, knowing we are very limited to influence events in “the big picture.” That all belongs to an authority far beyond my comprehension. That said, the more we rely on God and accept our smallness, or better said His largeness, we can come to terms with our dependence on the Lord’s providence in our life, and the lives of those around us.
Did we have any say whatsoever in our arrival in this life, where we landed, and with whom we would reside? Do we have any meaningful say when or how we will depart? The more I ponder questions like these in liturgical seasons like Advent, the more I become amazed at the Lord who created the universe, came to us as a helpless babe born in poverty, and decides everything that is relevant in my life.
Struggle as I might, I’m still working on my role in all this. Prayer is my attempt to find answers and direction.
Peace be with you this Advent season!
Prayer is a human instinct. God put this desire in us as standard equipment. The desire to praise, petition and to thank must be expressed, or it rots inside us, and as a cancer, grows. That explains the pain and frustration people like Carlin felt. But if we can’t see the face of God in the sky, we must seek it in each other and let our life serve as a prayer of outreach and outlet.