Dear brothers and sisters, the psalmist of today says, “our help shall come from the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth”. In the Gospel of last Sunday, we saw how the ten lepers cried out at his name, “Jesus, Master! Take pity on us” and they received healing. When Jesus instructed the group of lepers to show themselves to the priest, they responded with immediate obedience. According to the tradition of the time, only those already healed from leprosy were permitted to approach the priest. The priest’s role was not to heal, but to examine those who had recovered and issue a certificate confirming that they were no longer afflicted by the disease. Despite this custom, the lepers, who were still visibly suffering from leprosy, trusted Jesus’ words without hesitation or question. Their faith compelled them to set out at once toward the priest, even though they had not yet been healed. They believed in the name of the Lord. Today the readings tell us to be constant, consistent, patient, faithful, hopeful in our cry to the Lord; to be patient and hopeful in our prayers, to pray without ceasing.
In the first reading, the Israelites encountered their first battle with the Amalekites, after the Exodus. This was a surprise attack against the Israelite, who had not yet formed a very strong army, but however trusted in the name of the Lord. Dear brothers and sisters, in our life we receive and continue to receive a lot of surprise attacks, surprise illnesses, surprise failures, surprise difficult situations, but sometimes we have no means to fight back, no family support, no financial support. We are worried, afraid, anxious. But like the Israelites, we might have no strong army, no physical strength but our strength is the Lord. Our help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Trusting in the name of the Lord, Moses asked Joshua to choose men; to go out and fight and he will stand on the hill with the staff of God in his hands. Joshua obeyed, though he knew his men were unskilled. Our prayer life requires confidence. Surely Joshua was afraid, but he remained faithful and trustful. Our situations might give us various emotions, but we must learn to remain trustful and faithful in the Lord. The reading tells us that when Moses held his hand, Israelite prevailed and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. In the same way we must constantly make daily efforts to remain attached to the Lord, constant daily prayers. However, we might grow weak, from time to time, that is why we need a Christian community, our family, we need the prayers of others. When Moses’ hand grew weak, Aron and Hur supported his hand up. Dear Christians, forming part of a Christian group or a family is very important for our spiritual growth. Therefore, from the first reading we can summarize that as Christians, our daily struggles, battles, fights should not only be physical but equally spiritual.
In the Gospel, we see equally how Jesus tells a parable to his disciples on the need to pray continually and not lose heart. In this parable, we see a widow who persistently asks an unjust judge for justice against her adversary. The figure of the widow represents someone powerless and without social standing, persistently seeking justice from a judge who “neither feared God nor respected people”. At first, the judge refuses, but finally he gives in, not out of righteousness but to stop her from bothering him. Dear brothers and sisters, this parable does not show that prayer is about persuading God but about remaining faithful and trusting in His justice. True faith endures even when answers seem slow. God’s timing is not human timing. In the last verse, Jesus final’s question is a call for meditation, “when the son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”, when Christ will come, when he will want to answer our prayers, will he find those who have persevered, those who have not grown discourage, grown depressed, become angry and given up because they have not received an immediate answer from the Lord? Dear brothers and sisters, our help shall come from the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Let us pray to God to give us the grace to remain faithful and patience in serving Him, in our prayers, in our difficult situations, in our doubts. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
NGALA AUSTIN KANJO
Piarist
Ngala Austin Kanjo is a religious and priest in the Order of the Piarist Schools from the Province of Central Africa. Born in Shisong, Cameroon. He is currently undergoing a master’s program on formation of formators at the Gregorian University.
