Homily for Monday
24th Week of Ordinary
Time
Sept. 12, 2022
Luke 7: 1-10
Provincial House, New
Rochelle, N.Y.
“When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave” (Luke 7: 3)
The gospel story today
gives us an example of intercessory prayer.
The centurion is doing what countless people ask us to do for them. He’s asking local Jewish leaders—who must
have been open toward Jesus, not hostile—to go to Jesus and obtain a favor from
him. Jesus willingly responds to their
request. It’s one important part of our
relationships with our benefactors, families, pupils, and confreres to pray for
them, to go to Jesus seeking his help on their behalf, whether that’s in a
general sort of prayer or a particular one for healing, comfort, release from
captivity, relief from a disaster, or something else.
We ourselves turn to
intercessors, following the ancient practice of the Church. We turn to the saints, most notably to the
Mother of Jesus, whose name and whose power or influence (evoked by name)
we honor today: “for all who celebrate
[her] glorious name, may she obtain your merciful favor.” We happily invoke her multiple times
daily: “pray for us sinners” and “Mary
Help of Christians, pray for us.” And we
invoke our personal and congregational patron saints, and saints with special
patronages like St. Joseph for a good death and St. Anthony to help us find our
keys, our glasses, some document, our sanity.
May our holy
intercessors be as effective on our behalf as the Jewish leaders were on behalf
of the centurion and his slave. May our
prayers for our friends, families, benefactors, and others be beneficial too.
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