Homily on the 7th Sunday after Pentecost.

Romans 15: 1-7; Matthew 9: 27-35.

We as Christians often face times when we feel that our spiritual growth is being held back. This is a common experience that all will face at least at some point on their spiritual journey to deeper communion with the All-Holy Trinity.

Often, it can seem as if we are doing our best in our spiritual lives but no matter what we do we seem to be drifting further and further from the path set for us by the All-Holy Trinity. This can be frustrating, especially for the Christian who ensures that they observe all the appropriate fasts and says the appropriate prayers.

In today's, Gospel we have recounted for us the healing of the two blind men by our Lord and Saviour. Oftentimes, we can let our spiritual practices blind us – what I mean is that we begin to equate saying longer and longer prayers with building a relationship with the All-Holy Trinity.

Remember endless chatter a relationship does not make – we all know someone who will talk at us and not give us a chance to respond to what they say! So too it is possible to do in our prayer lives talk and talk at God yet give Him no chance to respond or guide us!

However, sometimes these long prayers, whilst pious, can be the very source of our spiritual blindness. What I mean here is that if one simply boils our spiritual duties to saying the right prayer or making the right amount of prostrations before the Lord then we have missed the point of His incarnation, death and resurrection!

Christ came, He who is the God-man, so that all may have the possibility to form a deep and meaningful relationship with the All-Holy Trinity! A relationship must always be a loving exchange where each participant is in dialogue with the other.

Oftentimes, we fall into a rut and prayer simply becomes saying this and that prayer by that Church Father with little regard for the sentiment behind the prayer. How easy is it for the mind to wander in some of the longer prayers of the Church Fathers when one is not paying attention to what one is saying!

Prayer has to be authentic and come from the heart – otherwise one is no better than the Pharisee in the Parable of the ‘Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18: 9-14).’ Longer prayers are not necessarily better prayers! What is more, too many people equate being holy to performing a set of ritualistic actions which can quickly become routine and meaningless!

To pray to the Lord is to humble oneself before Him and pour out what is in our hearts to him in our own voice/words – we are all gifted a unique personality which the Lord knows and loves. Whilst there is nothing wrong with using the traditional venerable prayers of the Fathers there has to be a balance – these cannot be the only prayers that one uses in one’s prayer life.

Sometimes the most effective prayer can be to simply to say to the Lord – ‘Lord I love you, thank you for the gifts that you have given me help me always to do the right thing (not sin).’

In many ways, this is exactly what our Lord and Saviour taught us in the prayer that He commissioned us to say the ‘Our Father (Matthew 6: 9-13).

Moreover, prayer must never become burdensome in that if one does not do all the prayers that one has set out to pray one becomes distressed – people who have such a demanding prayer rule often develop religious scruples. I have seen too many people burdened with such a spiritual affliction which causes them great distress if they do not finish every prayer!

Prayer should be a way of life in that one’s whole life becomes an act of prayer. What this means is that all our actions should be formed by the truths of the Gospel offered to the Lord and our day filled with moments where, even for a moment, one turns one’s heart to the All-Holy Trinity.

It is true that we live in an age where being busy is the rule and it can be difficult to find time to pray but remember every quiet moment can be a moment to express your love to the lord. Prayer does not have to be a big affair it can be done anywhere in the Bethlehem of the heart for by using these quiet moments to pray to the Lord one invites him into one’s heart and one gives Him a place to rest.

Furthermore, the best aid in building a great prayer life is to partake in the Holy Mysteries of Christ’s Church. If one does not partake of these Holy Mysteries (The Eucharist and Confession) one can find oneself starved of all the graces which our Lord and Saviour desires to bestow!

Finally, let us focus on how we can help those around us in this difficult time. We are called to show Christ’s love to the world. We are called to help those in our community who are experiencing sorrow and pain.

Let us truly show them the love of Christ - for many in our society are hungry for the gifts of Christ and His Church. Remember, if we simply stay in our Churches they will never have the opportunity to see what wondrous gifts He offers them!

Let us pray that our Lord and Saviour may guide us this week in the way He desires us to be of service to His people. Moreover, let us pray that He will guide us in our journey and help us to grow in our relationship with Him who is the source of all life and love!