Pastor's Column

29^th Sunday Ordinary Time

October 21, 2007

 

In today's first reading (Exodus 17:8-13), Moses is leading the Israelites through the desert on their 40 year journey to the Promised Land. These are not just history lessons! Inn many ways their experiences are mirrors of our own lives as well. We, like they, are not just wandering aimlessly: we have a destination, we are not home yet. 

 

Suddenly, we find Moses running into problems. Here comes –Amalek – a Canaanite king that wants to destroy the Israelites.   So what does Moses do? They can't win this battle with conventional means. They have to do it God's way. Moses doesn't use just ordinary weapons, though.   Before the battle, he goes up a nearby hill, and spreads out his hands! Moses becomes a prayer warrior.

 

Lesson #1: In order to win our daily spiritual battles (and we all have them), we need to be people of prayer. The battle is not ours, but the Lord's. The Lord told us to pray always. Of course, we can't walk around with our arms outstretched, any more than we can sit in the adoration chapel all day. The time we spend in prayer is essential, and the way we live and speak is essential. Words and deeds in a Christian thus begin to form a continuous prayer.  Our continuous prayer, then consists in how we pray and how we live.

 

Lesson #2: We need help to keep our arms up. One arm is supported by the church; the other arm is supported by scripture. When I come to Mass, I enter into prayer with others. My presence supports them and they support me. The other activities, classes, outreach, daily mass, adoration, all of these strengthen and hold up our arm. God did not design your arm to be help up by itself.

 

The Church also supports our arm with its teaching. What a grace the teaching authority of the Church is in our lives! We have a 2000 year perspective on current issues. We are likely to battle very unwisely if we don't listen to the advice the Lord gives us in this way.   Our other arm is supported by scripture, where the Lord wishes to speak to us on a daily basis. Our final exam will be based on the contents of this book. How well do you know it?

 

Scripture is our lifetime owner's manual, the essential reading in how to conduct our lives. Our lives should literally be immersed in scripture.  This is how we will win our daily battles with Amalek! If you find that your arms are growing tired in your spiritual wilderness journey or that your battles need reinforcements, ask yourself a few questions. Am I holding my arms out in prayer like Moses did, by my words in prayer and by the way I live? Are my arms getting enough support?   Am I making use of my church and its' teaching? Am I reading and reflecting on the scriptures every day?