Breaking Open the Word
October 19
Introduction
The first reading is from Exodus. The Israelites lived 400 years as slaves. They had no experience with warfare, it was God who fought the Egyptians for them. In the desert, they were attacked unprovoked by Amalek, and God would need to intercede if they were going to survive. The saving tools would be prayer and the rod of God, the same one Moses used with the power of God in Egypt. That Aaron and Hur provided intercessory prayer which resulted in Israel's victory over her enemy is also significant. When the faithful strengthen each other by praying together to offer their petitions to God, additional power is manifested. Read on verses 14-17 to get additional information about this battle with Amalek. Then read Deut. 25:17-19: Amalek was evil, he attacked from the most vulnerable side of the Jews. He deserved his fate and God punished him, while God protected His chosen people.
Some scholars see Moses outstretched arms on the hill saving his people as a type for Jesus’ outstretched arms on the cross on a hill saving all humanity.
This 121st Psalm is one of the "Songs of Ascents" that pilgrims either sang or prayed aloud on their journey up the mountains to their holy city of Jerusalem, which they could see in the distance. The psalmist begins by expressing his profession of faith and trust in God, who made Heaven and Earth.
This psalm should remind us that we are also pilgrims on a journey through this life on our way to the Holy City of the heavenly Jerusalem. On our life's journey, we should not only pray for ourselves, but we should also remember to pray for God's protection for our brothers and sisters in the human family who share the journey with us, praying that we all might come to salvation.
In the second reading, When St. Paul speaks of the Sacred Scriptures, he refers to the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures. These are the Scriptures Jesus said were fulfilled in His earthly mission in proclaiming the Kingdom of God, His sacrificial death, and His glorious Resurrection. St. Jerome, who translated the ancient scriptures into Latin, called the Vulgate, famously said “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”
Gospel Explained
In the Gospel reading, Jesus teaches the necessity of perseverance in prayer in the parable of the Persistent Widow. Jesus warned His disciples of every generation to remain firm in the faith. Jesus said to pray and to not lose heart. That’s an important part of the story.
This parable is related to the man who went to his friend (at midnight!), asking for 3 loaves of bread for his visiting friend. The homeowner refused his friend with a pretty good reason, everyone is in bed at this late hour. But the persistent friend won out- the man got up and gave him the bread, not out of friendship but out of the friend’s persistence (Luke 11:5-8).
Today’s parable is centered on two of the qualities of prayer: it is necessary to pray always without ceasing and with the patience of faith.
This parable about the unjust judge is an important lesson about the effectiveness of persevering, confident prayer. Comparing God to a person like this makes the point even more clear; if even an unjust judge ends up giving justice to the person pleading their case, how much more will God, who is infinitely just and who is our Father, listen to the persistent prayer of His children.
Jesus was saddened by the lack of faith of his own neighbors and by the little faith of His disciples. But He was struck with admiration for the great faith of the Roman centurion who only needed the word of Jesus for His servant’s healing, and the Canaanite woman’s persistent pleading for her daughter’s cure, even after being rejected twice. Jesus wondered if the professed children of God would remain patiently persistent in their faith in Him and if He would find faith on earth when He returned.
Today's Theme
The theme for today is prayer. This is the circle of prayer: if you have faith in God, you will turn to Him in prayer; when you pray, you strengthen your faith in God. The greater our faith, the more effective our prayers become; this is partly because we develop a closer relationship with God but most of all because, in the course of growing in communion with God, we become more closely aligned with His will.
When God called Abraham, he went forth “as the Lord had told him” (Gen 12:4). Abraham’s heart is entirely submissive to the Word and so he obeys. Such attentiveness of the heart, whose decisions are made according to God’s will, is essential to prayer. Abraham’s prayer is expressed first by deeds: a man of silence, he constructs an altar to the Lord at each stage of his journey. Only later does Abraham’s first prayer in words appear: a veiled complaint reminding God of His unfulfilled promise of heirs (Gen 15:2). This begins the great conversations between Abraham and God.
Prayer is in fact the recognition of our limitation and our dependence: we come from God, we belong to God, and we return to God. Prayer is an act of humility and gratitude, an attitude of trust and abandonment to Him who out of love gave us life. Hebrews 11:1- “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
After Jesus' Ascension, the Apostles and disciples persevered in prayer in the presence of the Virgin Mary in the Upper Room in Jerusalem for nine days as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit, praying with one voice and one heart. On the tenth day the Holy Spirit came to fill and indwell the Church of Jesus Christ. The faithful of Jesus' Kingdom continue to support one another in prayer, which is why the Church, united as Christ’s body, makes petitions to God in the Intercessory Prayers of the Mass.
The Catholic church fulfills this command of Jesus in one particular way to “pray always” in the Liturgy of the Hours, prayed by priests and many in the consecrated life, whose purpose is to sanctify to God the day and all human activity. Through the Church spread to all corners of the world, these prayers are always being prayed somewhere. Also, those in contemplative religious orders, through a strict separation from the world, offer prayers continuously and devote their lives to the praise of God and salvation of the world. In the advice of St. Paul in 1 Thes. 5:17-18 “pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Theme in our Life Today
The "Son of Man" is Jesus's favorite title for Himself and refers to His humanity and the prophet Daniel's vision of the Divine Messiah (Dan 7:13-14). Verse 8 is the crux of the problem facing humanity concerning the Second Advent of Christ. Jesus ends His teaching on the importance of perseverance in prayer with the warning to remain firm in one's faith. Faith and prayer are two sides of the same coin. If you have faith in God, you will go to Him in prayer; if you pray, you strengthen your faith in God.
We should ask ourselves this same question. Do we persevere in prayer with the widow's persistence in Jesus' parable, or, if we do not immediately receive an answer to our prayers, do we lose heart, patience, and faith and then give up? When God does not seem to answer our prayers, it is because we are not praying for what is good for us, or praying for what is not in God's divine plan for us, or He is not granting the petition because God is asking us to be patient and persevere as He strengthens us in faith. St. Monica prayed for almost thirty years for her wayward son Augustine to repent and come to believe in God. If she had not persisted, the Church might have been deprived of one of her greatest theologians and Doctors of the Church.
Lifting up our mind toward God is an expression of our adoration of God in many ways: prayers of praise, thanksgiving, intercession, petition, and prayers asking for His mercy and forgiveness.
Using Abraham as an example, do we sometimes pray to God in silence, waiting for God to act, and sometime issuing a veiled complaint at unanswered prayers? Jesus reveals the imperative of persistence and actively relying on God as we await the end, even while we know life in this world continues to be filled with injustice.
Prepare for Sunday
1. Recall times in your life when your prayer seemed unanswered as you requested it, only to be answered in a much greater way than you could have imagined? Thank Him again.
2. Jesus said “when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” May your prayers answer that question: “Yes!”
3. Remember, the very purpose of prayer is relationship with God.
4. Pray the Jesus Prayer- “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”
Let us pray:
Psalm 27:7-9, 13-14
Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call;
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks;
your presence, O Lord, I seek.
Hide not your face from me;