29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
My dear parishioners,
God is Good!!! All the time!!! And all the time!!! God is Good!!!
Our first reading tells us that as the tribes of Israel make the journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai, God challenges them over and over again to grow in faith. God has already addressed their fears by providing them with bread from heaven and water from the rock. Now they are faced with an attack from an enemy force. Have they learned to respond by calling on God for protection?
Struggle. The army of Amalek poses a serious threat for the tribes. But Moses, at least, seems confident that the people can stand up to them. He directs Joshua to engage the enemy, not with all able soldiers, but only with certain chosen men. As long as these selected fighters can see the staff of God held high by Moses, they prevail against the enemy. When Moses grows tired and lowers the staff, the Israelites lose the advantage on the field. As a result, Aaron and Hur must stand on either side of Moses all day long to ensure that the staff of God is held aloft and visible to the Israelites fighting below. This almost mechanical reliance on the staff of God reveals the weak condition of their faith. In time, they will no longer need to rely on the staff; it will be enough for them to turn to God in prayer (Nm 21:1-3).
The opening line of today’s Gospel indicates that Jesus is instructing his disciples on the need to have persistence in prayer. Luke’s audience is largely Gentile and does not have a long tradition of prayer such as a Jewish audience would have. The point of persistence is exemplified by the parable of the persistent widow.
The unjust judge and the widow. The parable unfolds around a dispute between a widow who persistently pesters an unjust judge for a just decision. The judge is totally unfit for the position he occupies. He is depicted as being thoroughly corrupt. He holds all the power of justice which this poor widow seeks. Widows were rendered poor, both materially and socially. For example, they could not inherit their husband’s estate since that always went to the surviving sons. Jewish tradition—as well as that of early Christianity—exercised special concern and care for widows.
An unexpected judgment. No one would expect the unjust judge to grant the poor widow the favorable and just decision she deserves. After all, this judge cares nothing about justice. Nevertheless, we are shocked to learn that the judge decides to render a just decision in favor of the poor widow. His decision, however, has nothing at all to do with justice. He simply cannot stand the poor widow’s persistent nagging. Much like a boxer who continues to jab away at the opponent, this widow has been relentless with the unjust judge
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius