Exodus 17:8-13
In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, “Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses’ hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
R.(cf. 2) Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains; whence shall help come to me? My help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
May he not suffer your foot to slip; may he slumber not who guards you: indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps, the guardian of Israel.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade; he is beside you at your right hand. The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life. The LORD will guard your coming and your going, both now and forever.
R. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Beloved: Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
Hebrews 4:12
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
discerning reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Luke 18:1-8
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Exodus 17:8-13
The Amalekites were known to the Israelites who recognized them as a powerful and fierce tribe of warriors. “They (the Four Kings) turned back and came to Enmishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they subdued the whole country both of the Amalekites and the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.” (Gen 14: 7). “After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned, met Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites in the desert of Paran at Kadesh, made a report to them all, and showed them the fruit of the country. They told Moses: ‘We went into the land to which you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit. However, the people who are living in the land are fierce, and the towns are fortified and very strong. Besides, we saw descendants of Anakim there. Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb; Hittites, Jebu-sites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands, and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan.’” (Num 13: 25-29). “But now, since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the val-leys, turn away tomorrow and set out in the desert on the Red Sea Road.” (Num 14: 25).
Deuteronomy and 1 Samuel reflect back on the encounter with Amalek. “Bear in mind what Am-alek did to you on the journey after you left Egypt, how without the fear of any god he harassed you along the way, weak and weary as you were, and cut off at the rear all those who lagged be-hind. Therefore, when the Lord, your God, gives you rest from all your enemies round about in the land which He is giving you to occupy as your heritage, you shall blot out the memory of Am-alek from under the heavens. Do not forget!” (Deut 25: 17-19). “This is what the Lord God has to say: ‘I will punish what Amalek did to Israel when he barred his way as he was coming up from Egypt. Go, now, attack Amalek, and deal with him and all that he has under the ban.’” (1 Sam 15: 2-3).
The battle that is the focus of our pericope takes place at Rephidim, which is near Mount Sinai, a considerable distance south of Kadesh. Amalek is out of his territory in an obvious attempt to thwart the advance of the Israelite people.
The battle takes place during the wandering years in the desert. Yahweh had recently provided the people with Manna and quail from heaven, and life-giving water from the Rock. He has dis-played His power over nature and His desire to sustain and shepherd His people on the journey. Now, as He had recently done with the Egyptians, He is about to display His power over their earthly enemies and opposing forces.
“I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” The top of the hill or the mountain top is symbolic of Yahweh’s presence. The staff of God that Moses held in his hands obviously carries the shepherding power of God as it split the Red Sea and provided water from the Rock.
As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight. St. Paul (Or author of 1 Tim) would later speak of the necessity of lifting up holy hands in prayer. “It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.” (1 Tim 2: 8).
Moses’ hands, however, grew tired; so, they put a rock in place for him to sit on. The He-brew word that is translated in this verse as tired is kabed. Kabed meads heavy, weighty or oppressive and is sometimes translated as weary. It is the same word that is used in a subse-quent verse when Jethro is advising Moses that his work should be delegated to others to as-sist him. “The task is too heavy (kabed) for you; you cannot do it alone.” (Ex 18: 18). In a similar vein Aaron and Hur are now recruited to hold up Moses’ heavy arms.
Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Psalm 121 consists of eight verses, all of which are included in the in our pericope this weekend.
Psalm 121 is titled The Lord is My Guardian in the NAB and is titled Let Us Go to the House of
the Lord in the ESV.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains; whence shall help come to me? My help is from the
LORD, who made heaven and earth. The Hebrew word that is translated in this verse as
mountain is har. Har can be translated as mountain, mount, or hill. The mountain is considered
the dwelling place of God because of the theophany on Mt. Sinai. The Hebrew word
that I translated in this verse and the following verses as Lord is Yahweh.
May he not suffer your foot to slip; may he slumber not who guards you: indeed, he neither
slumbers nor sleeps, the guardian of Israel. Proverbs speaks of our God who protects our
feet from stumbling along the Way. “Then you may securely go your way; your foot will never
stumble.” (Prov 3: 23). “For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from the
snare.” (Prov 3: 26). The Hebrew word that is translated as guardian is shimar. Shimar means to
keep, watch over, or guard. Shimar first appears in Sacred Scripture in Gen 2:15. “the Lord God
then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care (shimar) for it.”
(Gen 2: 15). Using the metaphor of Israel as a vine the Prophet Isaiah describes God as its keeper.
“The pleasant vineyard, sing about it! I, the Lord, am its keeper, I water it every moment; lest
anyone harm it, night and day I guard it.” (Is 27: 2-3).
The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade; he is beside you at your right hand.
The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Hebrew word for guardian
in this verse is again shimar. Similar verses can be found in Isaiah and The Book of Revelation.
“They shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them; for He
who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water.” (Is 49: 10). “They will not
hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the
center of the throne will shepherd them.” (Rev 7: 16-17).
The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life. The LORD will guard your
coming and your going, both now and forever. The Hebrew word that is translated as guard in
this verse is again shimar. The Hebrew word that is translated as life in this verse is nepes.
Nepes is often translated as soul. Nepes is the recipient of the life breath of God in the creation
story. Deuteronomy describes the Lord’s blessing of our comings and goings. “May you be
blessed in your coming in and blessed in your going out!” (Deut 28: 6).
2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Second Timothy is the second of three Pastoral Letters, which consist of First and Second Timothy and Titus. There is some uncertainty as to time of composition and even author-ship. Some suggest authentic authorship of Paul with the assistance of a secretary to explain the difference in writing style from other letters known to be of Paul’s hand. Other scholars suggest a composition of Paul’s notes assembled at a later date. All of the above discussion is beyond the scope of this exegesis. It is the message from the inspired word of God that is important.
Timothy accompanied Paul on his second and third missionary journey. We know from the content of 2 Timothy that Paul is writing from prison. He is continuing to shepherd Timothy who is now shepherding the nascent Church.
2 Timothy seems to have been penned during Paul’s final imprisonment. “For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand.” (2 Tim 4: 6). Paul is referring to his death, which he feels is immanent. He also shares his desire to die for the Lord in his Letter to the Philippians. “For me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.” (Phil 1: 21-24). Paul was condemned during the persecution of Nero. He was beheaded outside of Rome along the Ostian Way.
Immediately prior to our pericope today Paul is warning Timothy to beware of false teach-ers. “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so they also oppose the truth; people of depraved mind, unqualified in the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their foolishness will be plain to all, as it was with those two.” (2 Tim 3: 8-9). “But wicked peo-ple and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived.” (2 Tim 3: 13).
Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Timothy learned the faith from his faithful grandmother and mother and later as a follower of Paul. From the age of five the pious Jew began to be taught in the Sacred Scriptures. The Greek word for wisdom in this verse is sophia. The Greek word for salvation is so-teria.
The Greek word for faith is pistis. The Greek word that is translated as faith is pistis. (See exegesis above). The word carries with it our common understanding of the word faith. It means a system of beliefs that we hold and profess. It means trust and confi-dence. It means loyalty, fidelity and assurance. As it is portrayed throughout Sacred Scripture it takes on an even deeper meaning. It connotes a deep, abiding, personal re-lationship of love, even a sharing of life. This deep abiding relationship is made possi-ble by the justification that comes from the dying and rising of Jesus. By the Paschal Mystery we are set free to enter this communion of love with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed, “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word so that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they may also be in Us.” (Jn 17: 20-21).
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. The Greek word that is translated as inspired in this verse is Theopneustos. Theopneustos means literally breathed out by God.
St. John Damascus spoke of inspired Sacred Scripture: “Sacred Scripture is extremely profit-able for the soul. Like a tree planted near a stream, the soul that is watered by Scripture grows heartily and bears fruit in due season. It is fitted with leaves that are always green, with actions pleasing to God.” (St. John of Damascus, Orthodox Faith, 4: 17).
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Our pericope today is taken from a larger section of 2 Timothy that is titled Exhortations to Timothy in the NAB. Our passage is further titled The Gifts Timothy Has Received.
In his address to Timothy, Paul recalls the faith that Timothy inherited from his mother and grandmother. “I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears, so that I may be filled with joy, as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and that I am confident lives also in you.” (2 Tim 1: 4-5). St. Paul speaks of faith as a reality living within Timothy that also lives in his mother and grand-mother. In articulating this indwelling reality St. Paul seems to interchange words like faith (pistis), gift (charisma) and Holy Spirit.
St. Paul describes a gift that was passed on to him from his mother and grandmother, but also a gift that he and the presbyterate conferred on him through the imposition of hands. “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was conferred on you through the prophetic word with the imposition of hands of the presbyterate.” (1 Tim 4: 14). Some exegetes have further articulated the charism of ordination conferred on him from the presbyterate.
I remind you, to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. This gift is something that has been conferred on Timothy and now lives within him. It is first and foremost the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Paul later reminds him is living within him. With that gift of the Holy Spirit comes the illumination of divine life and love that fills and guides the heart, soul and mind. Through the imposition of the hands of Timothy and the presbyterate the Holy Spirit empowers the charisms of ordination. This is the gift that Paul urges Timothy to stir into flame. God’s grace needs our response and our cooperation. We must accept and ignite into motion the in-dwelling gift.
St. Paul begins this discussion by rejoicing in the sincere faith of Timothy. The Greek word that is translated as faith is pistis. The word carries with it our common under-standing of the word faith. It means a system of beliefs that we hold and profess. It means trust and confidence. It means loyalty, fidelity and assurance. As it is portrayed throughout Sacred Scripture it takes on an even deeper meaning. It connotes a deep, abiding, personal relationship of love, even a sharing of life, and indwelling of divine life. This deep abiding relationship is made possible by the justification that comes from the dying and rising of Jesus. By the Paschal Mystery we are set free to enter this communion of love with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed, “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word so that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they may also be in Us.” (Jn 17: 20-21).
Our pericope from St. Paul concludes with this image of indwelling divine life. Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. St. Paul talks often of the indwelling presence of Christ within him. With the indwelling presence of Christ comes the Father and the Holy Spirit, as they are One. Within the Trinity of God lives the fire of love, the light of faith, and the gift of hope. These are the gifts that we are called to stir into flame!p
Luke 18:1-8
The setting of our Gospel is the same as in recent weeks; Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. The disciples are following Him on the way. On the way Jesus is addressing the disciples and the crowds at with different teachings. Our pericope today is a parable on the im-portance of persistence in prayer. It is a parable that is unique to Luke’s Gospel. It is titled The Parable of the Persistent Widow in both the NAB and the ESV. It is clear that this par-able is addressed to His disciples. Luke begins Chapter 17 vs 22 as follows: “Then He said to His disciples…” (Lk 17: 22). Luke introduces The Parable of the Persistent Widow as follows: “Then He told His disciples a parable” (Lk: 18: 1). After this brief introduction the entire passage, with exception of Lukan introductions, consists of the words of Jesus.
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. What is translated here as necessity actually consist of two Greek words, dei pantote. A more literal translation is as follows: there is need at all times, or it is necessary at all times. The expression without becoming weary is the translation of two Greek words, me enkakeo. Me means not. Enkakeo means to be discouraged or lose heart. The connotation is more concerned with the emotional than the physical sense of growing tired or weary. St. Paul speaks of the need for constancy in prayer in his Letter to the Romans. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Rom 12: 12). 2 Corinthians adds the admonition to not loose heart, me enkakeo. “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.” (2 Cor 4: 1).
He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. The Greek word that is translated as fear or feared is this passage is phobeo which as you might surmise from the English transliteration phobia, means cra-ven fear. The Hebrew word that is most often translated as fear speaking of our human relationship with God is yirah. Yirah can also mean craven fear, but as it has evolved throughout the OT, especially in the Psalms, it has come to mean a sense of awe and reverence before God, as creature standing before Creator. Proverbs described fear of God as the beginning of true wisdom. “The fear (yirah) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom and instruction fools despise.” (Prov 1: 7). The Psalms describe this fear as a sense of piety. (See Ps 14:4; 21:23; 24:12; 32:18; etc.).
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ The God-fearing judge would be obliged to render justice for the widow. “For the Lord, your God, is the god of Gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes, who executes jus-tice for the orphan and the widow, and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him.” (Deut 10: 17-18). “You shall not violate the rights of the alien or of the orphan, nor take the clothing of a widow as a pledge. For, remember, you were once slaves in Egypt, and the Lord, your God, ransomed you from there; that is why I command you to observe this rule.” (Deut 24: 17-18). Sirach is even more specific relative to the care of the widow. “He (Yahweh) is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint; do not the tears that stream down her cheek cry out against him that causes them to fall? He who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches to the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right.” (Sir 35: 14-18).
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? The Greek word that is translated in this verse as call out is boao. In the LXX it appears many times to speak of one who cries out to God or implores God for a re-sponse. “After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s presence, Moses implored (boao) the Lord.” (Ex 8:8). “As the people grumbled against Moses, saying, ‘What are we to drink?’ he appealed (boao) to the Lord.” (Ex 15: 25). Perhaps most significantly the poor man cries out to the Lord in Deuteronomy 15. “Be on your guard lest, entertaining the mean thought that the seventh year of relaxation, is near, you grudge help to your needy kinsman and give him nothing; else he will cry out (boao) to the Lord against you and you will be held guilty.” (Deut 15: 9).
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? The Greek word translated in this verse call out is again boao. The answer to the rhetorical question posed by Jesus is, of course, “Yes.” Jesus answers the question plainly in the verse that follows.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? This question posed by Je-sus seems to reflect back on the prior chapter. In Chapter Seventeen the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. (See Lk 17: 5). Jesus, shortly thereafter, spoke of the com-ing of the Son of Man. “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.’” (Lk 17: 22). Perhaps the prayer that we should be crying out to God day and night is the prayer for an increase in faith to properly navigate the Way.
The setting of our first reading this weekend is the beginning of the journey of the Israelite people from the slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. The journey is symbolic of our own journey through this life to Heaven. It seems that everywhere that they turn the people are facing many obstacles and trials. This new gift of freedom comes with many challenges. There are many forces seeking to oppose the hand of God.
“Amalek came to wage war against the people.” The Israelites were greatly outnumbered. They left Egypt rather hastily as slaves. As such they left with little more than the scant clothing that they would have worn. They certainly were not well equipped or trained for battle. In short, they were no match for the heavily armed and trained Amalekite army. Only by the hand of God were they able to survive. By the hand of God working through the hands of Moses the Israelite people prevailed.
In our world today, as in all of recorded history, we see great opposition to the will and de-signs of God. The battle against Amalek and his army is symbolic of the spiritual battles that we face every day. Like the Israelite people we are no match against the powers and principalities of the devil and his legions. Only by the power of God will we be able to survive. Only by put-ting on the armor of prayer, only by perseverance will we be able to reach the Promised Land. If we think that we can do it with mere human effort and mere human power, we are badly mistak-en. I believe that that is the message as the Israelites prevail when the hands of Moses are raised and they fall back when his hands fall. This is the perseverance that Jesus is calling us to in our Gospel this weekend.
The good news is that the people, albeit a remnant, made it to the Promised Land. Those who remained with Moses and the community, symbolic of Christ and His Church, survived the ardu-ous and dangerous journey through the desert. When they were dying of hunger God sent Man-na from heaven. When they were dying of thirst God directed Moses to strike the rock and life-giving water flowed. God sent a pillar of light to guide them on the way. By the power of God, they survived every battle against all odds. We are called to have the same trust and endurance. So never lose hope, God is with us. God is in us, the ground of our being. Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of us Your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of Your love, Amen.
Yours in Christ,
Early in my priesthood I was the pastor of a church in a small rural town. We were blessed to have a very vibrant parochial school attached to the parish. There were also an active high school youth group and a very energetic middle school youth group. Every year we would take the two youth groups to Milwaukee to volunteer for a couple of evenings at a community meal program.
One fall as we organized events for the middle school students, they all felt that they wanted to do more to help the poor. Following careful consideration and discussion, they resolved to organize a fundraiser, with the intention of donating the proceeds to the Food for the Poor or-ganization. The planning evolved from a dinner to a diner theater fundraiser. We were blessed that one of the parents of the teens was also the drama teacher at the local high school. With a lot of energy and excitement on the part of the students and a lot of fear and trepidation on part of the pastor we proceeded. They decided to do a comedy spoof on the Cinderella fairy tale, and the meal would be a prime rib dinner. Luckily two of the parents were professional chefs!
I was pleasantly surprised at the energy and enthusiasm of the youth as they spent countless hours preparing for this event. I was equally surprised and shocked at the negativity that was coming from the community. We were a small town with a population of less than 4,000 resi-dents and communication was very much word of mouth. Everyone knew and seemed con-cerned with everyone else’s business. I received multiple unsolicited reports that this effort was going to be a colossal failure. Nothing was right. The date and the time were wrong. There were conflicting events that evening in the community. The meal choice was wrong for the ar-ea. No one wanted to see a middle school play. This was never attempted before. We did not do this last year! The date drew near, I became increasingly alarmed as ticket sales were abys-mal. I did not want the students who had worked so hard to fail.
After play rehearsal one evening, the students expressed their concerns to me regarding neg-ative feedback they were receiving from the community. One of them said, “Father, I think we need to pray!” My initial thought was, why didn’t I think of that? Then I said, “Great idea, let’s walk over to church.” We all knelt in the sanctuary before the tabernacle, and we raised our hearts and voices to God for over an hour. Near the end one of the students said, “Lord, it is in Your hands.” With great trust in the Lord, we went boldly forward.
We continued to pray every evening. But, being of little faith, I lowered my expectations and tried to prepare the students for the possibility of failure and financial ruin.
The event was near, and despite some pretty aggressive marketing efforts less than fifty tick-ets were sold. The food for the meal was purchased based on the capacity of hall which was 240 people seated. We went forward with our plans, the hall was beautifully decorated, the food was prepared, the actors had their parts down and the doors were open.
To my surprise and delight people started streaming into the hall. Tickets were being sold at the door. The hall began to fill such that we needed to set up additional tables, some outside the hall. Someone told me that we had over 260 tickets sold, and people were still coming in. Luckily one of the grandparents owned the local grocery store and he ran to the store to get more food for the cooks. A donation basket was set out for contributions to the cause. The play was amazing and hilarious; it brought the house down as they say. Someone asked me how much we had paid for the food. I discovered later that he had placed a check in the donation basket to cover the entire cost of the food that we had purchased.
We entertained and served over 300 people that evening. The students that were not in the play served the tables. The next morning was Sunday and a priest from Food for the Poor was celebrating Mass as we had planned. The youth standing together presented him with a check for $9,000. They chose to provide funding to build several community wells and feed thou-sands of people in developing countries. The student presenting the check told the priest that it was from all of them but mostly from God. And I said “AMEN.”
