29th Sunday

29th Sunday Ordinary
October 17, 2004

"Moses' hands, however, grew tired... so that his hands remained steady till sunset. (Exodus 17:8-13). Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?" (Luke 18:1-8) "Be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient" (2 Timothy 3:14-4:2).
Here are two lessons on the importance of perseverance, remaining confident in spite of fatigue and discouragement and, and obtaining justice. The Most High protects Israel under attack as long as Moses' keeps his hands raised, with the help of his friends when he can no longer hold them up by himself. Jesus, tells a story about a poor woman extracting justice out of a corrupt judge by nagging him until he gives her satisfaction just to get rid of her. If the corrupt official could dispense justice to this woman who had nothing to give him in return, how much more will we receive it from our heavenly Father who expects nothing back for his persistent attention to our needs.
God has a great sense of humor and irony that we may miss, when we become too deadly serious about our problems and needs. Just because the Most High is the master of the universe doesn't necessarily mean we have to be excessively careful with what we say or ask for. This story invites us into more intimacy with God than we may think (or know) we deserve. Over the centuries, we may have lost contact with some of this intensely personal and familiar relationship with God encouraged by Jesus and exhibited to this day in the Jewish tradition of prayer and piety. The Most High, it seems, responds well to our insistent demands, even our nagging, for what we need.
It may not necessarily be that God is withholding from us just to see how long we can endure or how persistent we can be. Life dishes out some pretty tangled, difficult and painful situations, some derived from our own poor decisions, others from circumstances beyond our control. We might be inclined to blame or argue with God because we have not been rescued from situations we have created for ourselves. Other times however we can be legitimately upset with God remaining apparently aloof from our genuine needs. In these situations, we might do well to imitate the widow in the gospel story, nagging the Most High, for our needs.