St. Norbert's Church - Sunday Reflections

Pray, pray, pray! That is the message of the readings today. It seems an easy message for each of us to understand. On the other hand, we also know how easy it is not to pray, to forget God, especially when things are going relatively well. Far too often we Christians only turn to God when we are in trouble. This is the same story that we find throughout the Jewish Scriptures, our Old Testament. When things go well, people abandon God. When things fall apart or when there are disasters, people turn to God once more.

The reading from the Book of Exodus also teaches us about supporting one another in prayer. Prayer does not need to be something that is just a solitary experience. We are called to live in community, in one way or another. Even a Christian hermit must have a relationship with a Christian community. The question for the hermit is always this: whose feet do you wash?

This reading from the Book of Exodus shows us how we support one another in prayer. We do this by holding up the hands of one another. What a wonderful symbol expressing how to help one another. Our hands are so often how we earn our living, whether it be by manual labor or some type of desk job. We get tired and others have to support us. Even parents get tired of caring for their children and of earning a living in order to support their families. Who is holding up their hands?

The Gospel is even more delightful today. We can just imagine the widow coming to him and insisting on justice. The judge changes his ways finally because he thinks that she may come and hit him! We should all be laughing at this image, while at the same time admiring the courage of this widow who does not give up but pursues her own cause relentlessly. How relentless are we in prayer? When we don�t get what we want or even what we need, do we keep on insisting with our God?

We can end our reflections by listening to the Second Letter to Timothy once more, especially the final part of our second reading today: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

This is the same teaching of the other two readings: persistence whether it is convenient or inconvenient! We must continue to learn to pray all of our lives. We must continue to learn how to persevere and be persistent all of our lives. Let us never stop asking God for what we want and what we need. Let us tire Him out with our persistence! If we are not persistent, then it is clear that we don�t really want or need whatever it was for which we were praying.

My sisters and brothers, God wants us to ask Him for all that we truly need in our lives. May we respond to Him.