29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

Readings: Exodus 17:8-13 Psalm 121:1-7 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 Luke 18:1-8 The Theme of the readings: Perseverance in Prayer and Scripture Study Prayer and studying Sacred Scripture are two ways to grow closer to God and open the way for God to communicate His divine will to us. The First Reading and the Gospel contain examples of the power of prayer and the necessity of persevering to deepen our relationship with God. Today's Psalm encourages us to pray for God's protection and intervention in our lives, while the Second Reading calls us to study the Scriptures. In the First Reading, in the company of Aaron and Hur, Moses offered an intercessory prayer resulting in Israel's victory over the army of the pagan Amalekites. After their deliverance, the Israelites strengthened each other by praying together, their unity giving additional power to their petitions. Christians support each other similarly by praying as Jesus told us to pray in His name to the Father (Jn 14:13-14). For this reason, the Church, united in the Body of Christ, makes petitions to God in the Intercessory Prayers of the Mass. Today's Responsorial Psalm should remind us that we are pilgrims on a journey through this life to reach the Holy City of the heavenly Jerusalem. On our life's journey, we should not only pray for ourselves but also remember to pray for God's protection for our brothers and sisters in the human family. They share the journey with us, and we should petition our Holy Father for our salvation and theirs. Speaking of God's parental protection, St. John Vianney said, "Our God never lets us out of his sight; he is like a mother who watches closely over her child as he takes his first steps ... What consolation the Christian feels to know that God is always watching over him, that he witnesses his trials and struggles, to know that God is on his side" (St. John Vianney, Sermon on Corpus Christi). In the Second Reading, St. Paul advised St. Timothy on the necessity of studying the Old Testament Scriptures in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to his faith community. St. Paul's advice is as crucial for the faithful today as it was in the first century of the Church. He emphasized the usefulness of all the Scriptures, and by "all," he meant the entirety of the sacred texts that are the word of God written down in human terms so that we might understand them and live according to their teachings. In the Gospel Reading, Jesus teaches the necessity of perseverance in prayer in the Parable of the Persistent Widow. Jesus warned His disciples of every generation to remain firm in their faith. Faith and prayer are two sides of the same coin. If you have faith in God, you will turn to Him in prayer; if you pray, you strengthen your faith in God. At the end of His teaching, Jesus asked if the professed children of God would remain patiently persistent in their faith in Him and if He would find faith on earth when He returned. Ask yourself this same question: Do you persevere in prayer like the widow's persistence in Jesus's parable, or, if you do not immediately receive an answer to your prayer, do you lose heart, patience, and faith and then give up? Our unanswered prayers may be because we are not praying for what is good for us, or we are praying for what is not in God's divine plan for us, or He is not granting the petition at this time because He is asking us to have patience as He strengthens us spiritually through our perseverance. St. Monica prayed for her son to repent and come to faith in God for almost thirty years. If she had not persisted, the Church might have been deprived of one of her greatest theologians, St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: (Agape Bible Study) (Psalms for the Liturgical Year (livingwithchrist.ca)) 00:00 – Intro 00:16 – Collect 00:40 – First Reading 01:34 – Responsorial Psalm 04:00 – Second Reading 05:15 – Gospel Reading 06:35 – Recommended Videos