Why Pray?

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 14: 22 – 33

One of the activities we do in Ateneo is the “Trust Walk.” In this activity, each participant is blind folded and asked to walk under the guidance of a companion. We realized it is easier to walk when guided by someone whom we know well than by a total stranger. The voice of a good friend gives us the confidence that everything will be fine.

Our gospel today is a classic example of trust walk. When Peter learned that it was Jesus walking on the water, he said, “Lord, if it is you, allow me to come to you.” And Jesus said, “Come.” Although Peter could not clearly see Jesus, his voice was enough to encourage Peter to walk on water. Faith is indeed connected to our ability to hear God’s voice. The more we listen to God, the more we gain trust and confidence. Unfortunately, in our present world where noise is part of our life, we are slowly losing our capacity to keep quiet and listen to God.

People nowadays are so busy and distracted with many things. We are multi-task human beings; we do many things at the same time, but lost our focus in the process. Like a machine, we can accomplish many things, but the quality of our relationships suffers greatly, especially our relationship with God. We go home exhausted from daily work, but no sense of fulfillment. We excel in different fields and praised by our colleagues, but no inner joy and satisfaction. Many of us are simply tired, discouraged, or almost dead inside. We have lost our simple joys, spontaneity, and peace. We have lost the depth and breadth of our Christian life. We don't like this feeling of "sinking" but we are. Like Peter, distracted with many worldly concerns, we cry out for help, “Lord, I am sinking! Help me!”

The only way to regain ourselves is to pray again. Prayerful people could hear God in their prayers. The deeper we pray, the more we see God in all things. Our first reading tells us how God revealed Himself to Prophet Elijah. God did not reveal Himself in the strong wind, earthquake and fire, but in the tiny whispering sound. In our present society where everything must be loud, dramatic and grand to win our attention, the God who reveals Himself in silence loses in the competition. If we want to hear God, we need to pause and pray silently.

It is simply absurd to say that we don’t have time to pray. To pray is a decision compelled by our love of God. Even the busiest person can still drop his work and do something urgent and important. Unfortunately, we don’t see the necessity and urgency of daily prayer in our life.

Why pray? When you look at the gospel today, it is Jesus who did the seeking, and not the disciples. When we pray, we create a space and allow God to seek and find us. And when God finds us, He gives us the grace of serenity to face our storms in life. An unknown author defines the meaning of serenity…

To walk when everybody is running
To whisper when everybody is shouting
To sleep when everybody is restless
To smile when everybody is angry
To pause when all are in a hurry
To pray when all are in doubt
To think when all are confused

Fr. Roque Ferriols,SJ shared something about God who constantly looking for him when he celebrated his 70th year as a Jesuit:

“Seventy years ago, I joined the Society of Jesus. I thought I was beginning a lifetime looking for God. But it was given me to know that throughout my lifetime, God has been looking for me. With infinite tenderness, patience, and with great humility, God has been looking for me. God is humble. He waits for me to allow him to find me. Yet in the mystery of his grace, I need his grace to be able to allow him to find me. I have to pray: Lord, grant me the grace to allow you to find me.

As a novice and later as a scholastic, when they sang the Office of Tenebrae during Holy Week, I was always thrilled when they came to the verse: "Bonum est praestolare salutare domini in silentio." "It is good to wait for the saving help of the Lord in silence."


- Fr. Wilfredo M. Samson,SJ
St. Joseph Parish, Zamboanga City

The Fireworks Within Us

18th Sunday in the Ordinary Time
Matthew 14: 13 – 21

One day, Jesus called a press conference at the Manila Hotel. The reporter asked Him, "The Philippines is burdened with lots of personal, family and social crisis. What are your plans to help us?" Jesus replied, "I will ask my disciples to help." "You trust them a lot? Suppose they failed, what’s your Plan B?" Jesus smiled, "I have no other plans. I’m sure, they can do it."

In today’s gospel, the death of John the Baptist must have had caused deep pain to Jesus. By this time, Jesus was also tired of moving from one village to another, doing all sorts of work alone. He may have felt the fatigue of the ministry that he suddenly decided to withdraw from the crowd. But when Jesus saw the big crowd, he felt pity on them. But he could not do it alone. The ministry was getting bigger. He needed help. He knew it was time to bring his disciples in the frontier. He needed to wake his disciples’ potential as leaders and healers of the society.

And so Jesus said to his disciples, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food themselves.” And they hesitantly responded with five loaves and two fish. But that small act of generosity was enough for Jesus to make a miracle and feed five thousand souls. Thanks to the disciples’ five loaves of bread and two fish. But honestly speaking, Jesus could easily make a miracle without his disciples’ contribution. But he wanted to encourage his disciples to get out of their comfort zones, be empowered and have their own miracles in God’s name.

We need leaders. Our society is in need of good leaders who can inspire and bring us to greater heights. Sad to say, we have a short list of possible good leaders in our midst. Our gospel today is challenging us to start forming leaders by encouraging individuals and groups to start sharing their loaves of bread and fish. No miracles will take place in our lives unless we share our loaves and fish. When one discovers his giftedness, he also discovers his mission. Like Jesus, we are duty bound to empower others to help themselves.

But do we know the art of empowering people? One day an old lady invited me for lunch in her house. Knowing that she was really poor, I politely turned down her invitation. But in tears, she replied, “Bakit po Fr.Willy? Dahil po ba mahirap lang kami, wala na kaming karapatang pakainin kayo? Yung mayayaman lang po ba ang pwedeng maglibre sa inyo?” I was taken aback. She was right. The poor are not just beneficiaries of our kindness; given full trust and encouragement, they could also be potential helpers, leaders and evangelizers as well.

But how do we empower people? Do I believe that each person is unique and capable of making a difference to our society? Do I consciously encourage anybody to develop his/her talents? Can I trust them to do something big and important? Can I entrust my pet project to my assistants? We are good leaders or managers, if the people under us can manage themselves even without us; or our ministry survives and flourishes even when we are gone. We are good parents, if our children can take care of themselves while we are away from home. We need to form confident, independent and highly motivated individuals who can stand on their own and lead. The measure of success of our evangelization program is when our subjects become evangelizers themselves.

We need to form leaders, and not mere followers and admirers of us. Sometimes, the cause of our fatigue comes from our inability to delegate some of our work to others, because we don’t trust them. And in the process, we don’t inspire them to wildly dream and empower themselves. Remember this – to trust is the key to confidence build-up. If Jesus could only sing a song today, he will sing the “The Fireworks” of Katy Perry to remind us of who we are. Here are some lines:

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go, oh
As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go, oh
You're gonna leave 'em falling down

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon

Let’s remember, it is better to commit a mistake for trusting somebody and failed, than to commit a mistake for not trusting somebody for the fear of failure. Jesus has no plan B. He has only one plan for us – to assist Him in His vineyard.


- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
St.Ignatius of Loyola Parish, Brgy. Tetuan,
Zamboanga City.