The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C – 16 October 2022
Lectionary Readings: Exodus 17:8-13; Ps. 121; 2 Tim. 3:14-4:2; Lk. 18:1-8
Theme: Our Faith Journey
Two Sundays ago the apostles asked Jesus: “Lord, increase our faith.” Last Sunday a cleansed leper worshipped and thanked Jesus for cleansing him, thus acting out his faith, with Jesus confirming it: “‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’” (Lk. 17:19) Today we have the parable about the unjust judge and the widow who is constantly knocking at his door demanding justice. Jesus tells the parable, ‘about the need to pray and never to lose heart.’ I see this as a call to deeper faith in the love and promises of God through Jesus Christ. God is not the unjust judge – our God is merciful and faithful. If an unjust judge can give what the Widow wants because of her incessant pestering of the judge, who cares neither about God nor human beings, how much more will a God who is goodness, mercy and love itself not give to those who seek in faith. God is total mystery to us but Jesus had given us a glimpse of who our Father is. The obstacle in our lives is having the faith to know that this faith requires of us to continue praying and waiting upon our merciful, loving and faithful God who will never let us down no matter how we read what is happening to us. Jesus knows how difficult this constant action of faith, which we call prayer, is as the last line in our reading of today reveals to us: “‘And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’” (V. 8b)
Our first reading for today is taken from Exodus 17:6-13. In this narrative we see the faith of a ‘community’ waiting upon the LORD God to win the victory for the Israelites against Amalek. Moses is at the top of a hill praying with hands raised. He grows tired and his assistants make a plan to deal with his fragility by sitting him on a rock and holding up his hands in prayer. This reminds me of what Matthew records Jesus as saying: “‘For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’” (18:20)
In our second reading from 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 we read the following: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Vv.14-15)
If we are wavering in any way in our faith now and at any time in the future Psalm 121 said slowly and reflectively will be a way of renewing our Faith in our Tremendous Lover.
For Reflection and Discussion: 1. Jeremiah reports the following words to us in chapter 6:16: “Thus says the Lord:/’Stand at the crossroads, and look,/and ask for the ancient paths /where the good way lies; /and walk in it,/and find rest for your souls.’” We pray for faith to know that our Tremendous Lover waits for us to walk the way of his commands. This God of ours will never fail us. What keeps me from believing totally in this God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Bibliography: www.biblegateway.com NRSVACE
This week’s Sunday Liturgy Commentary was prepared by
Bernadette Teresa Chellew, Bat Kol alumna 2008
Comments are closed