29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C, Year I)

Community Word:  True disciples are living witnesses of Jesus, through faith in Him.

Theme:     We are living witnesses of Jesus when we persevere in prayer.

Promise:   “The Lord will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life.”  (Ps 12:7)

Reflection:  
God’s primary and ultimate objective in encouraging us to pray is to bring us to Himself into oneness and face-to-face intimacy with Him, “seek my face, hear my mind, obey my will”.  He wants a relationship with us and to fellowship with us.  Prayer is a relationship and a fellowship between God and man. It is an awesome thing to come into the presence of a Holy God, to ask from a loving Father, and to receive an answer from an omnipotent God. Prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is good beyond measure, with his Son, Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit.

In prayer, an awesome experience takes place, God approaches us and we connect with Him as a child to its parent.  Prayer is the strength of man and the weakness of God.  When we present our petitions to God, He grants them because of His great love for us.  We get what we need only when it is according to His plan and is good for us.  In prayer, we do not influence God, rather God influences us.  We do not change God, He changes us.  Persistent prayer goes hand in hand with a persevering and deepening life of faith.  Neither can be taken for granted. They require conscious effort and renewed commitment.  Let the word of God brighten up our prayer life, provide direction and open up new opportunities to communicate with the Lord.

The passage from Exodus in the first reading demonstrates that there will be battles to fight, but God will send people to encourage us in our spiritual growth.  May we be humble enough to accept God’s will as He directs us in doing His work through the people He sends our way. The image of Moses being helped to keep his hands raised to protect the Israelites (Ex 17:12) shows the kind of support the community leaders need in order to fulfill their responsibilities. It is a metaphor, a symbol, of how community members should stand together, united and committed, formed in the mind and heart of God.  Psalm 121 convey God’s assurance and promises to be with us as we work in His vineyard.

The gospel ends with the question: “When the Son of man returns, will He find any faith left?” (Lk 18:8).  Will the Lord indeed, find the kind of faith He describes in the parable – strong, constant, persistent – like that of the widow?  Faith and prayer go together, strong faith need strong prayer.  The Lord will find strong faith wherever there is strong prayer.  Let us be strong in our conviction that God will grant our request if we have faith in our hearts. The parable points to the need for consistency and perseverance in prayer.  Never give up on prayer.  Pray without becoming weary.

Jesus emphasized the need for persistent prayer.  He never taught His disciples the art of preaching, or the technique for healing the sick, or how to speak in different tongues.  The only thing He taught them was how to pray.  We can be a Christian even if we are illiterate, we can be a Christian whether we are children or adults, but we cannot be Christians if we do not pray.  Anyone who does not spend time in prayer cannot be a disciple of Jesus.  We should pray and never lose heart.  We should ask, importune and persist, like the widow in the gospel.  If she could wear down even a wicked judge to give her justice, how much more shall we receive blessings, mercy and grace from our Almighty Father who did not hesitate to give us His very best, His own beloved Son, who endured all our sins and miseries.  What needless pain we go through, all because we do not bring everything to God in prayer.  And what a privilege to be able to lift everything to Him in prayer!

Prayer
Our just and listening God, ever ready to hear our prayers and to meet us where we are, we believe You are not beyond our reach, because of Your loving concern for Your people. Therefore, we bring before You, our hopes, dreams, aspirations, disappointments and complaints, our cries for justice, and concern for the needy.  Equip us with strength and courage for every good work and the grace, to remain faithful to Your commands.  Let this, our prayer, find access to Your throne through your Son, our precious Redeemer, in union with the Spirit, that love and obedience may mark our days now and forever. Amen.

Reflection Questions:

1.    How do I reflect my prayer life to encourage others to pray with persistent faith?

2.    In what ways do I support others in their faith journey?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
October 20, 2013 (Sun)    Ex 17:8-13/Ps 121:1-8/2Tm 3:14-4:2/Lk 18:1-8
October 21, 2013 (Mon)    Rom 4:20-24/Lk 1:69-75/Lk 12:13-21
October 22, 2013 (Tues)    Rom 5:12,15,17-19,20-21/Ps 40:7-10,17?Lk 12:35-38
October 23, 2013 (Wed)    Rom 6:12-18/Ps 124:1-8/Lk 12:39-48
October 24, 2013 (Thur)    Rom 6:19-23/Ps 1:1-4,6/Lk 12:49-53
October 25, 2013 (Fri)       Rom 7:18-25/Ps 119:66,68,76,77,93,94/Lk 12:54-59
October 26, 2013 (Sat)      Rom 8:1-11/Ps 24:1-6/Lk 13:1-9

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

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