Sunday Homily, October 16, 29th Sunday Ordinary Time, C
Readings:
Exodus, 17, 8-13, Joshua mowed down Amelak and his people.
Psalm 121, Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
2 Timothy 3, 14-4, 2, Remain faithful to what you learned.
Luke 18, 1–8, The poor widow who pestered the judge.
Harper says, "Welcome, Everybody." And what could I be seeing on your cheeks, Harper?
Exodus observations:
What: A very readable story about the Israelites departing their slavery in Egypt. Moses is their reluctant leader and his struggle in getting old Pharoah to allow the people to depart is classic. The story, mostly fable, continues through the people's journey through the Sinai Desert for 40 years and their entrance into the Caananite land, a land promised to them by Yahweh.
When put together: Two collections were recorded as early as the time of Solomon, about 1000 ears before Christ. Other collections were added and the definitive & final form took place around the Babylonian Captivity, i.e., 555 before Christ.
Our Selection: The people are in the desert. They get attacked by the Amelekites. How Moses saves the day is amusing. The finale is not so amusing, but typical for the time.
Sources: The New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Bible.
Victoria, too, says, "Hi, Folks, Come in."
What We Ask For
A few years ago I had three elderly people from the subdivision of Northwood Hills contact me about planting trees in their neighborhood. Two were a couple and there was a third guy, all probably about my age right now. I really did not want to do this project because they were north of LBJ and I thought it was too far to drag the water trailer full of water from Jesuit, where I was living then.
Welcome in to you, My Dearest Vivian. So nice to see you. Thanks to your special mommy.
So I put them off. Maybe even for a year. Eventually, however, because of their persistence I went to see their project, which consisted of Fretz Park, Hillcrest from LBJ to Beltline, Beltline from Preston to Coit, and a neighborhood elementary school, about 350 plus trees.
Despite not being eager to tackle the distance, two things pulled down my resistance. First, they were willing to kick in a good portion of the cost of the trees. Secondly, they were so gracious and eager to improve their own neighborhood. I could not tell them no after all they were willing to put out, and all their pleading.
Genevieve says, "Where now is that Vivian? She has disappeared."
You know the rest. We planted one of our bigger projects and the trees are thriving. I was especially touched because they gave me a recognition of gratitude at one of their large community meetings.
When I hear Luke's story about the widow & the judge I always think about Northwood Hills. With gratitude.
With confusion also, because I have difficulty with the main point of the story. Namely, that God will answer persistent prayer, without even being slow about it, as Luke says. Do you believe that God answers our prayers, and even more swiftly if we are persistent as the widow? My mom thought that a nine day novena with special prayers got her every request, though my memory tells me otherwise.
Entrance of Lauren Lucas and her dad, Jim. Friday night wedding at Ana Villa in The Colony.
I need to make a distinction and an observation to make sense of this for me. I have talked with numerous people about this discomfort I have. The distinction is between a macro-managing God and a micro-managing God.
The macro-managing God I can handle. This god is behind the big stuff, the sky, creation, the stars, life, the balance of the universe. I see this god as like a person bowling. He gets the ball going and it travels on its own.
The Unity Candle, Lauren & Dylan.
The micro-managing god, however, is responsible for my sickness. He makes good things happen & bad things. He can change each. If I pester this god enough he will find my lost wedding ring or car keys. He will cure the sick, make me rich, fix the lottery so I win it, and so forth. This god I don't see in my experience.
Then why do I pray for people? Like at our prayers of the faithful. This is the observation. I pray first because I think, I hope, our God hears and is personal. Secondly, I pray because I imagine that my spirit sends forth some kind of emotional energy to that God that says, "Please take special care of this person I love." When we do this as a group, the emotional energy has a little more punch.
Exit and beginning of a New Life for Lauren and Dylan Mosley.
I also pray for people because it sensitizes me to the suffering & difficulty other people are experiencing.
So where does this leave us? Don't pray for people? Don't pray persistently like the little widow or the people from Northwood Hills? No. It may mean I lower my expectations. Maybe it helps to make the distinction about the macro vs micro-managing god. I still remember people in prayer.
Ultimately, what is your belief about praying for special intentions?
Is there anything you cannot do, Leo? This is terrific. Move over, Ray & Mary.