Martin Jumbam
The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, October 16, 2016 as the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time in the Church’s Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “To you I call; for you will surely heed me, O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of your eye; in the shadow of your wings, protect me. Amen.”
Our meditation of this day is centered on persistence, constancy and perseverance in prayer. In the first reading, from the Book of Exodus, we hear how Moses persistently prayed from morning till evening, with the help of Aaron and Hur, and through his prayers gave victory in battle to Israel over her enemies. In the second reading, from Second Timothy, Saint Paul’s thought of his impending death leads him to strongly urge his companion Timothy to courageously preach the Gospel and ensure that his conduct conforms with the doctrine he preaches. In the Gospel, from Luke, Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem and to his passion. Today, he teaches us the value of persistence in prayer through the parable of the widow whose persistence leads an unjust judge to give her the justice she deserves. Let us ask God today to make us strong in our faith, unwavering in our hope, and persistent in our prayer. Let us take advantage of the month of the Holy Rosary to pray to our Lady for all our needs, and for the needs of our friends and family members. Amen.
First Reading: Exodus 17: 8-13
In those days, Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Exodus is the second of the first five books of the Bible. It recounts the Israelites’ escape from Egypt with the help of Moses. Genesis is the first these books and it deals with the origin of the world, of mankind and of the people of Israel; the third is Leviticus, which gives the lists of the laws of the priests of the tribe of Levi; the fourth is Numbers, which gives the list of those who came out of Egypt and wandered about in the desert, and the fifth is Deuteronomy, which recounts the main events at the end of the forty years the Jewish people spent wandering in the desert under Moses. These five books form a unit known collectively as the Pentateuch (from the Greek word for five books), or as the Torah (the Hebrew word for the Law).
Exodus means “leaving” or “going out”. It tells of how the Israelites managed to escape from slavery and gained their freedom, ceasing to be subject to Egypt and accepting the Covenant established by God with Moses on the Sinai. The laws assembled in this book cover the religious, moral and social life of Israel.
In the passage of our meditation, we see how Moses, the mediator between God and his people of Israel, perseveres in his prayers from morning till sunset, thereby prompting God to give the victory in battle to his people over their enemies. After their freedom from Egypt, the Jewish people face many obstacles in the desert; not only are they facing a shortage of food and water, they must also ward off attacks from nomadic tribes, such as the Amalekites, who consider the Jews as intruders into their airspace. The Amalekites, who appear in the Bible as the perennial enemy of Israel (Deut 25: 17-18), were an ancient people who were spread all over the Sinai peninsula and controlled the trade routes between Arabia and Egypt.
To confront their enemy, Moses sends Joshua to the battlefront while he goes up the mountain to ask God’s intervention in favour of his people. He persists in prayer and as long as he keeps his arms raised, the Israelites have the upper hand, but when his arms drop from fatigue, the enemy has the upper hand. That is why his companions, Aaron and Hur, prop up his arms so he can stay with his prayer until the enemy is defeated.
What lesson do we draw from this reading? We must persevere in our prayer. Moses’ perseverance in prayer spells the first military victory for Israel on her way to the Promised Land. We obtain what we ask for through persistence in prayer, as Saint Luke shows us in the Gospel of this day. A widow persistently troubles the mind of an unjust judge until he gives her what is rightly hers. When we pray, we lift our heart, mind and soul to God as we enter into communion with him. Let our prayer not only be individual but also collective as we lean on one another as a community in prayer, just as Moses leans on Aaron and Hur to obtain victory in battle for his people. Amen.
Second Reading: 2 Tim 3:14 through 4:2
Beloved: continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the Sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Saint Paul is a prisoner in Rome and feels that his end is near. Shortly before this day’s reading, he warns his young companion, Timothy, against those who can likely lead him astray; those who keep up the outward appearance of religion but reject its inner power (v 5). As he does always, Paul points to himself as a good example of one who, despite constant persecutions and sufferings in the hands of his enemies, remains faithful to Christ’s teachings. “But anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be persecuted” (v 13). He however urges his young companion not to be afraid of persecution but to stand firm in his faith and in his vocation. Timothy must never tire of preaching the Gospel whether he is listened to or not.
Paul urges him to be patient and persistent in his teaching. Patience, courage, constancy and endurance are qualities that are needed to counter the opposition he is bound to face. He must therefore be zealous in his preaching, taking every opportunity to preach even if the particular occasion might not be considered fitting. The Word of God is always in season. And where should Timothy find material for teaching? It is to be found in Sacred Scripture, which is inspired by God.
What lesson do I draw from this reading? Like the first reading and the Gospel, the message of patience and persistence in prayer also runs through Saint Paul’s words to Timothy. I hear the same exhortation being addressed to me in the state in which I am and where I live. As a Christian, I must never divorce doctrine from my conduct. My Christian life must remain a strong witness of my belief in Christ Jesus the Saviour. I therefore pray for the grace of perseverance in my prayer. For this to happen, I must make prayer a habit by praying everyday, morning, afternoon and evening. With the strength received from prayer I can then confront the difficulties of everyday life knowing fully well that Christ is my shield against all odds. For this, I need the help of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate from the Father sent to us through his Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, make haste to assist me in my prayers. Amen.
Gospel: Luke 18:1-8
At that time, Jesus told his disciples a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ For a while he refused; but afterwards he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment
Prayer is at the heart of the readings of this day’s Eucharist, especially the first reading and the Gospel. Jesus presents us a parable in this Gospel that involves two contrasting personalities. One is an unjust judge, who has no fear for God and has no respect for anyone. He is the type Isaiah talks about when he says that they acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right (Is 5:23). The other is a widow, the ancient symbol of the defenceless person, who persists and perseveres in her quest for justice. After turning down her request for justice several times, the unjust judge finally relents and gives her what she wants. She does not take no for an answer and is not scared of confronting the all-powerful and corrupt judge. She has no influential person, no god-father, was we would say in Cameroon, to bring pressure to bear on the judge and she has no money to bribe him either: all she has is the justice of her cause and her own persistence. She finally wears out his resistance and for the sake of his sanity, the judge caves in and grants her what she asks for – justice.
Jesus encourages us in this parable to be persistent in our prayer and never to lose heart. A little later, he tells his disciples, ‘Watch out and keep praying that you can escape all that is going to happen and that the Son of Man will be pleased with you’ (Lk 21:36). Saint Paul would later tell his young companion Timothy, ‘Always be joyful and never stop praying’ (1 Th 5: 18). One of the reasons some people abandon the Church is their desire for quick fix solutions to their problems. They are impatient and want instant solutions to their problems. Once that does not happen, they quickly give up and rush to revival congregations that promise instant solutions, which hardly ever come.
Prayer influences the outcome of events in our lives. Today’s Gospel tells us that we must turn our life to God at all times. Our prayer must be much more than just lip-service and must come from the heart. We must therefore reserve time each day for prayer. A prayerful life must be the characteristic of each Christian. At the end of our day, we take time to review our day through the examination of conscience to see what we did that we can gladly offer to Christ in thanksgiving, but also what we did that would not be pleasing to him, and then ask for his forgiveness.
We must not only pray alone. We are the Church, the community of the faithful gathered in the name of Jesus. When we find time to pray with our fellow Christians, our prayer becomes more meaningful as it is performed for and with others in the community. The profession of our faith, the Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI tells us, in his apostolic letter Porta Fidei, is an act that is both personal and communitarian. It is the Church that is the primary subject of faith. Without faith, there can be no prayer. As Saint Augustine says, ‘If one’s faith weakens, prayer withers. […] Faith is the fountain of prayer. […] A river cannot flow if its source is dried up’ (Sermon 115, 1).
Let us pray especially during this month of October, the month of the Holy Rosary, that Our Lady may channel our prayers and those of our family members, friends and acquaintances, to Christ our Saviour. Amen.
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