Fr. Paul Campbell’s article for October 17th
Twenty-ninth Sunday in ordinary time
Ex 17: 8-13 2 Tim 3: 14- 4:2 Lk 18: 1-8
The one word that stands out in Sunday’s scripture readings is persistence. In the Old Testament reading from Exodus Moses and the Israelites engage Amalek in battle. While Joshua engaged in the battle Moses climbed “to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur” We then read “As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight”. When Moses failed to persist in raising his hands and calling on God the battle did not go well but when he did Israel was successful. The message clearly is persist in our relationship with God and all will go well. In the gospel Luke has Jesus telling a parable to the people. A widow approaches a dishonest judge and asks for a verdict. Although the judge is not at all concerned for the widow, he makes the decision in her favor because of her persistence. The gospel then tells us “The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?’ Again the message is persistence pays off because if we pray “day and night” we will have our wishes met. So the last line of this reflection should be: Pray often and things will go your way. However, there are times when things don’t go our way and we seem to be losing the battle. Does that mean we didn’t pray hard enough? Or did God let us down? I have prayed for people to get well and they have died. I have prayed that I would get a job I really wanted and I didn’t. I could not have been more persistent in my prayer yet I didn’t get what I prayed for. What went wrong? Well, to answer that question, we have to ask another. Why do we pray? I believe we pray so that we might grow closer in our relationship with God. Unfortunately I often pray with the mentality of earning gifts by persistence. It is a bit like frequent flyer miles in the spiritual realm. I pray to gain bonus points that I can redeem for rewards at a future date. If I really pray to grow closer to God I would begin to see the bigger purpose of life in this world and understand that God does have a plan despite the difficulties I face. Perhaps what I asked for in prayer would be a distraction to my relationship with God or even harm it. I am always cautious when I make analogies about God, but it seems to me God answering requests in prayer is like a parent answering a request by a six year old for a skateboard, a ten year old for video game or a 16 year old for the car keys. The parent needs to keep the big picture in mind while the child only sees the hear and now. God knows what is good for us in the long run, yet frequently we react to disappointment in prayer in a childish way rather than as a child of God. The question that should be asked when our prayers are not answered is “How is this meant to bring me closer to God?” Agreed, sometimes this is a difficult question to answer. However, if our purpose in this life is to grow closer to the God who created us it is the only question that can be asked. Sunday’s reading from Timothy puts says it best “Proclaim the word, be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient”.