Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

Today, we celebrate the Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. We continue to journey with Jesus and his disciples through the Gospel of Luke. Last week, we reflected on being grateful disciples who are mindful of God’s saving work and his loving presence in our life.

 

For the past 16 weeks or so Luke has been taking us on a journey with Jesus to Jerusalem through different geographical territories, among foreign and unfriendly people, into the moral and ethical concerns of many and often into the dark recesses of the human heart. Throughout this journey, Jesus was deeply engaged in the formation of his disciples: revealing to them God’s love; calling them to God’s saving will; encouraging them to challenge the values of the world; charging them with the mission of proclaiming the Good News; counseling them on how this mission has to be fulfilled; giving them a new lifestyle to live.

 

When the disciples seemed to find the challenge of discipleship overwhelming, Jesus gave them sound advice which has withstood the test of times and continues to support us today. You may remember the Gospel passage two weeks ago when the disciples talked about their struggle with the demands of discipleship and asked for an increase of faith, Jesus’ advice was to trust the little faith they had and let it come to life. Last week, the advice was to be gratefully and thoughtfully aware of God’s saving work and his loving presence in our life. 

 

This week, the advice is: Be steadfast. Stand your ground. Be patient and Persevere. Pray without losing heart. This calls for a shift from self-reliance to God-reliance.  Perseverance in prayer is more than true grit that will never quit. It is trust in a God who will never abandon or ignore those who put their trust in Him. It is God-centered and Grace-powered perseverance and not mere human effort or enterprise. It is a radical shift from self to God.

 

Be steadfast because God’s love is steadfast. Never quit because God never does.

 

The first reading of today’s mass (Exodus 17:8-13) speaks of Israel being at war with the Amalekites and Moses at prayer, hands lifted up in a gesture of need and openness to God. As Moses raised up his hands to the Lord, Joshua continued to defeat Amalek and his people. When his arms became tired, Israel began to fail and so Aaron and Hur supported his arms. Israel’s victory is credited to the persevering and prayerful reliance of Moses on God.

 

The second reading of today’s mass (2 Timothy 3:14-4:2) challenges us just as it did Timothy and the other disciples at Ephesus to be faithful to the truth revealed through the word of God, to pray and persevere and be willing to live the gift of faith and to “stay with the task” whether it is convenient or inconvenient. To be steadfast is to be firm in purpose, to be resolute, to be unwavering, to be tenacious, to be faithful and loyal just as our God is and never give up.

 

To read more of this Sunday’s reflection, please click on the link below...