Renewable Energy

Recharging by plugging into prayer

Luke 6:12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James,       and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people  from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

            A great debate is raging today regarding the best kind of energy to use.  Some people espouse so-called “renewable energy” such as solar, wind, biofuels, even rain and tides and geothermal heat.  Others argue our best bet is to improve nuclear energy, whose energy output is enormous, but brings greater risks.  Just ask the fish that glow in the dark swimming in the lakes around nuclear power plants.  Of course, everyone here in Fort Smith knows that the best energy is oil, natural gas and coal!  By the way, I recently found a gas station here in town that sells pure unleaded gas, with 0% ethanol added.  Is that any surprise since we’re still in 1985 here in Fort Smith?!  One of the burning questions of the day is what will we burn for energy?

            In the gospel today, Jesus directs our attention to a whole new class of renewable energy, namely, prayer.  Our Lord spends an entire night in prayer: in conversation and contemplation with his heavenly Father.  And what does Jesus do the following day?  He has the wisdom to choose the twelve Apostles, he teaches with authority, and he heals everyone who gets near him.  The last line of the gospel reads: “Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.”  Jesus had more power coming from his fingertips than all the coal-fired plants and nuclear plants and wind-turbines in the world combined.  How?  Because his power was not from this world, but from his Father.  You see, prayer allows us to plug into God, who provides the best form of renewal energy, because it renews everything.

             Where do you get your energy to get out of bed and get going every morning?  For some people their personal power plants are the cups of coffee they drink.  Others now rely on Red Bull or Jolt Cola.  Still others promote 15-minute power naps, or yoga or oriental meditation.  But all these forms of energy are still earthly; only prayer and especially the sacraments like the Mass, put us in touch with the ultimate renewable energy: the love and grace of the heavenly Father.  Today when you plug your cell phone in to charge it, ask yourself: what do I plug into to recharge myself?  The best power plant in the world is not in this world, it’s in heaven, and prayer plugs us in.  Prayer is the ultimate renewable energy because it renews you, it renews me, it renews everything.

   Praised be Jesus Christ!