Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I wonder if I would be too wrong if I said that that there are many people among you who have long standing petitions before God, and for reasons beyond our understanding, they are still unanswered. Often Monica is presented as an example of persistent prayer. She prayed for her son Augustine for twenty years. Not only did he have a change of heart but rather Augustine became a saint. My mother has been praying for my brother for over twenty-five years. Her only prayer is that he returns back to the church. Not only is her desire unfulfilled, but the possibility of his return at present looks more remote than ever. My mother says to me that this is God’s way of keeping us close to God. I am not convinced about my mother’s rationale but my mother faith is stronger than mine. I am not sure how you explain your unanswered prayers but I hope your faith is as strong as my mother’s faith.
Today’s readings are about many things. They are about prayer, they are about persistent intercession, they are about faith and they are about all the above put together. Prayer without faith is meaningless, faith without prayer becomes stagnant, and intercession without faith is hardly prayer.
I think the readings are telling us three things:
1. God is down here with us. Often, people think of the God of the Old Testament God as a remote, cold and angry God; that it is Jesus and the God of the New Testament who is more approachable, loving and accessible. Readings like today’s first reading tells us a different story. It tells us that even in the Old Testament, God was not somewhere up there remotely interested in our affairs. Today’s reading tells us that while Moses was on the top of the mountain his hands raised up in prayer and intercession, God was with the people in the battlefield, helping them and leading them to victory. And this is the “good news” for us today. God is in our midst. The readings do not tell us that because God is with us that life will be smooth sailing. Nowhere does scripture tell us that there will not be battles, difficulties, and complexities in our life, but rather, that in the midst of our struggles God does not abandon us. We can find God in the very midst of our struggles. In fact, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. However, there is a gesture that is very useful as we go through life – hands lifted up in prayer. There is one favor we do for God and for ourselves - that with hands lifted up in prayer, we invite God into the very midst of our life. Day in and day out, like Moses, we must invite God not only to fight our battles but simply to be an inalienable part of our daily existence. We must invite God to be our every breath.
2. God is good and gives us good things. The gospel reading can be a very misunderstood passage. It can be interpreted to mean that God is like the mean judge who made the poor widow come to him numerous times before he would rule in her favor, and that the judge eventually ruled in her favor not because he cared about her but simply because he wanted her to stop bothering him. The point of the parable is the very opposite. As Jesus says “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.” I think the parable tells us that God is good and that God is eager to give us good things. And if you are ever inclined to wonder why God did not let you win a lottery or did not heal your loved one or did not get you the job you wanted, or why your marriage ended in a divorce, or why an adversity came your way, just look back at life to find all the good things that have come your way. Life and any love that came our way, our family and those dear to us, the faith we have and the strength that comes from it, those that care about us now and those we love and care about; but most of all for the gift of Jesus and the promise of eternal salvation; all these good things come from a God who is good. Yes, perhaps there are many things that we still wish could be ours, but it is my suspicion that we have more things to be grateful for than things to complain about.
3. Confidence in God also means having self-worth. I am very intrigued by the widow in today’s gospel. A widow in Jesus’ time did not have too many things going in her favor. And yet, I am amazed not only at her persistence but also at her self-confidence. She considers herself worth being heard. I guess what I am trying to say is that prayer, faith, intercession on the one hand are about God. On the other hand, they are about us. Even as we reflect upon our needs and our blessings we realize that faith, prayer and persistence are all themselves spiritual gifts. Every prayer originates in the human heart. A heart that does not believe in itself does not have the confidence that daring that the woman in today’s gospel had. The more we think of ourselves as being created by God, the more we think of ourselves as being loved and redeemed by God, the more we think of ourselves as being chosen and sent forth by God, the more confidence and persistence we will have in God’s presence. The more we think of ourselves as created, loved, and redeemed by God, the more prayer, faith, and intercession will mean for us. The more we think of ourselves as created, loved and redeemed by God, the more we will be inclined to reach out to one another. God answers our prayer through one another as well.
This year our parish theme, “Being the Body of Christ” is very helpful. If we become what we eat then we are no ordinary people; we are the very Body of Christ. God is flesh among us. God lives in us and among us. God is our help. This should impel us to not only approach God with self-confidence to also to reach out to one another as answer to one another’s prayer. As we bring forward the bread and wine, let us acknowledge the God who is with us and reach out to one another in love. Amen
- Fr. Satish Joseph