Every Sunday, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Saint Paul today reminds us that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” It is with this in mind that we turn to our readings for today.
The Old Testament passage from the Book of Exodus tells the story of Moses who oversaw a battle that was being waged against Israel by their enemy Amalek. Moses is watching over the battle from a high place and he takes the posture of prayer, holding his hands up. As long as he has his hands up, the battle goes well for Israel, but the battle is long and Moses gets tired. When his hands drop, that is, when he gets weary in prayer, the battle goes against him. So, to make this intercessory prayer easier for Moses, the Israelites put a rock in place for him to sit on. Even better, Aaron and Hur stand on either side of Moses and help to hold his hands up. This goes on all day. Eventually Amalek and his troops are defeated.
What is the wisdom here? What are the Scriptures teaching us?
It is a reminder that we sometimes get tired and need help from others. Sometimes we need people to pray with us and for us. In fact, we often need others to intercede for us. Isn’t this the help we get from the community of the Church? And sometimes we need to support someone else in prayer. Isn’t this the help we give within the community of the Church? We can’t face the major battles of life alone. We depend on one another. I am always uplifted when I go out and someone comes up to me and says, “Bishop I pray for you every day.” What a relief!
And in the Gospel today Jesus reminds us that prayer is effective. He tells a parable of a widow who is facing an adversary. She comes to a judge for help and the judge is reluctant to give it. Yet, because the woman did not stop asking the judge for a just judgement against her opponent, he eventually gave it. Once again, Jesus has urged us to be persistent in prayer. Prayer is powerful. If an unjust judge hears and answers the plea of a woman because of her persistence, how much more will God, who is love itself, answer our prayers? God always gives us what we need, not always what we want, but what he does give to us is always good.
Please know of my prayers for all of you — and know that I am supported by your prayers for me. Let’s not stop asking for God to be good to us all.
Have a blessed week everyone.