M. Rebecca creatively interprets the first reading and the Gospel for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary time. It boils down to this: what we pray for we must desire passionately and that we must pray. The nagging woman in the Gospel was passionately seeking justice and truth and she persisted in her prayer.
M. Rebecca
October 20, 2013
Ex 17:8-13; Lk 18:1-8
Today’s first reading gives a wonderful image
of intercessory prayer. At first glance
we can rejoice with how we can support each other in and through our prayers. But as we look closer we realize that (Hey!) Moses’
prayer is that his enemies be slaughtered and “mowed down”! We need to be cautious in how we interpret
this model that Exodus presents, especially in today’s world with so much
violence and terrorism associated with religious beliefs…or more accurately ‘misbeliefs”.
(Unfortunately, even our own Christian heritage
has had its periods of violence.) If taken literally, Moses’ model of prayer is
dangerous. So let us take a further
look.
In the verses just prior to this
reading in Exodus, the people were nagging and complaining to Moses about being
thirsty in the desert. It was attributed
to their “lack of faith”. They saw their
own leader as an enemy and wanted to stone him, not realizing that he was an
integral part of their salvation. Moses interceded for them by taking a staff
in his hand and striking it on a rock. Water
flowed out of the rock and all drank abundantly. Now in this next story, Moses intercedes by
taking this same staff and siting on a rock with arms uplifted, defeats the Amalekites. This
staff is not some sort of magical wand but symbolizes God’s personal, powerful,
and active presence. And not only is the
staff in both stories but the rock as well, which for us is a
symbol of Christ.
As the Book of Exodus mentioned, we
find in this story that the real enemy in all this is not a person, but their
own lack of faith. However, the Book of
Numbers (14:43-5) tells us the reason the Amalekites defeated Israel during
Moses’ time was because of their disobedience…A lack of faith and disobedience (or
following one’s own will). Are not these
the real obstacles and opponents in our pathway to God? Jesus never prayed to have his enemies
“mowed down” or wished death to anyone.
Rather He prayed that his opponents would know how much they are loved –
and that they might come to know the Father and thus eternal life. Jesus’ weapons were obedience to the Father’s
will and a prayer of pure faith.
It is interesting that Our Blessed
Mother’s message at Medjugorje is that our (quote) “armor for battle” is
prayer. Mary’s most frequent message to
us is Pray. This is our armor and our weapon. All we need is faith. Then there is St Benedict: “the strong and
noble weapons” in battling for Christ, the true king, is obedience. We are back to Jesus’ weapons of the prayer
of faith and obedience. So we see the
key to this story quite different than it first appeared. The question is really: what are we praying
for? What do we seek passionately? And who, or what, do we see as our enemy?
Moses - with drooping arms and weak
legs - reveals to everyone on the hilltop his own poverty and weakness. He cannot stand on his own but sits on the
Rock; his arms are unable to remain high so he needs the support of
others. It is clear Moses is not the
power behind this victory.
Then we come to today’s gospel and at first
glance it seems a lovely parable of perseverance and persistence in
prayer. But at closer look we realize we
are being given a nagging woman as a role model! What
an odd image to use for our spiritual life! Are we being told to be like nags before God
our true judge? Why persist when God
knows what we need before we even ask!
Don’t we find nagging people annoying?...and even try to avoid them. So what is Jesus telling us in the story to
do?
First of all, I think it is
important to know what it is she is
demanding. The story does not
specifically say what she pesters him about but I think we get a clue by the
fact that her request is to a judge who is dishonest and unjust. She is pleading and persisting for the cause
of justice, truth,…things eternal! So again
we come back to the essential questions from the first reading: What is she praying for? What does she seek so passionately? And is the unjust judge the real enemy?
She, like Moses, realizes her
poverty and helplessness. She cannot
remedy her situation without the support and help of others. The woman has great faith – this woman is
obedient to the true path that points to the Father. Persistence is not a virtue in itself but only
when it is directed towards what is good, honest, just…things eternal…like
love. As role models, Moses and the
nagging woman tell us we cannot seek or persist in these things without the
help and prayer of others. We, too, have
weak knees and drooping arms and so often our poverty is right out there on the hilltop for everyone to see…but therefore
also to support!
So let us take these readings today
and apply them to our own life:
First: What is it
that we seek passionately? What do we consistently
desire? What do we most think about when
our minds are free?
Second: Do we have a strong enough faith in our
prayer to know we are capable of defeating all evil? Do we realize that through obedience and
dying to our self-will we can bring forth good in the world? Does our prayer include
foremost those who oppress us or treat us unkindly? {Reminds me of some guy that came to see us
??? who said “Of course I pray for my enemies.
It is a short prayer, “May they rest in peace”! That is not the kind of prayer we mean!!}
Third: Do we know our true enemies?...remembering
that our “supposed” enemies from without can actually help to deepen our faith
and expand our capacity to love...whereas our enemies within can ONLY
hinder our journey to union with Christ.
So who, or what, are our enemies?
And where are we looking?!
Fourth: Do we see our poverty and helplessness as a
positive means to move out of ourselves?
Or do we confuse our weakness, as not an aid, but an enemy!
Let us reflect on today’s
challenging and probing questions. What
we pray for and seek in our life makes us who we are – what we demand in our
life defines us. So these are by no
means trivial questions but perhaps the most important ones we can ask! The answers can make the difference between
our mowing down Amalekites verses the true battle of our own lack of faith and
our own disobedience towards charity’s demands.
Jesus tells us in the parable “to
pray always and not to lose heart”…or faith.
And Moses reminds us to be obedient to God’s will – seek it out
persistently, purposely, and passionately.
In this way, by our tiny efforts, we can be assured that “when the Son
of Man comes He will find faith on earth”!!
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