What do we learn from the first reading? About a battle? Hardly. The importance of Moses keeping his hands raised represents our need to keep responding to God’s call regardless of how tired or exhausted we may be. It also points out the need for community. The need for us to be willing to allow others to assist us as we accomplish God’s work instead of thinking we can do everything by ourselves. The reading along with the psalm reminds us that, “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
The second reading encourages us to remain faithful to what the Church has taught us. Many people over the years have decided they were smarter than the Church and knew better than anyone else what God has in mind. Remaining faithful may require humility on our part to recognize that perhaps we are not the brightest bulb in the package. He reminds us that all scripture is inspired by God, but that we cannot separate that from what we have learned and what has been handed on to us by the apostles. We also need to be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.
It is easy to become distracted by the details in the Gospel. Remember the intent of the parable is to remind us to pray always without becoming weary. How often do we pray for something and then become upset because we do not get what we asked for quickly? Jesus invites us to pray with faith and trust in God’s providence. His final question though challenges us when he asks, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Do we have the faith to trust that God will do what is best for us? Do we have the faith that our prayers will be answered, in God’s time?
Countenance of God 