May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
A few years ago, I
received a very interesting phone message.
The message was quite simple: “Good morning Father Benjamin. I know that you are very busy, but I would
appreciate it if you would call me back when you get this message.” There was nothing unusual about this message,
except for the few words that followed: “by the way Father, this is your
mother.” From a very early age we
recognize the importance of a parental greeting that includes our full name. The use of my title however added another
level of importance. There was not an
emergency. It was simply that in being
busy about many things, many important things in fact, that I had forgotten to
call my parents for a little while.
The people in our
readings from the Scriptures today are busy about many things. In our reading from the book of Exodus, Moses
found his community under attack by a neighboring kingdom. Calling Joshua, his closest assistant, Moses
instructed that an army be gathered and that a battle be waged. There were so many things to do. The people had to be warned. The community had to be protected and
led. And yet, on the day of battle,
Moses positioned himself on the top of a hill, with his brother Aaron and
Hur. With the staff of God in his hand,
the same staff that he held before Pharaoh and stretched over the Red Sea,
Moses interceded with the Lord for his people and held his hands in
prayer. As long as the hands of Moses
were raised in prayer, even when assisted by Aaron and Hur, the chosen people
held the field and won the battle. There
were so many things that Moses could have been busy about, but he spent the day
in prayer.
In our reading from the
second letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, we hear a word of
encouragement. The great evangelizer to
the nations, defender of the faith, travelling missionary and founder of
communities, and author of nearly half of the New Testament, encouraged the
young bishop Timothy to remain faithful in his study of the Word of God. The encounter with the scriptures would equip
Timothy for every good work. Though he
would be busy about many things, it was of first importance for Timothy to be
in prayer with the Word of God and faithfully preaching the message of
salvation, whether it was convenient or inconvenient.
In our reading from the
Gospel today, the Lord Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow and a
dishonest judge. The widow persevered in
pleading her case until her case was finally heard by the dishonest judge. Luke tells us that the Lord Jesus told this
parable to the disciples so that they would know about the need to pray constantly. The widow and the dishonest judge in the
parable, the disciples of the Lord, and the Lord Jesus himself could be busy
about many things. But today, in all of
our readings, the Lord invites us to prayer.
Even though we are busy about many things, we are invited to give our
relationship with the Lord the first place in our lives. That is the one important thing.
At Lourdes and at
Fatima, at Knock and at Guadalupe, the Church received a message from our
Mother. She would like to hear from
us. The month of October is dedicated in
a particular way to the prayer of the Rosary.
This simple and persistent prayer, through which we follow the life of
the Lord Jesus in the company of his Blessed Mother, assists us and equips us
for every good work. As we turn to the
Mother of God in prayer, we receive strength for our daily battle. The strength of your prayers, my dear
brothers and sisters, keep my hands raised in prayer to the Father, just as the
hands of Moses were raised on the mountain.
Let us respond this
week, dear brothers and sisters, to the message and the invitation of our
Mother, so that she, for whom the Almighty has done great things, will lead us to a deeper relationship with her Son. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
