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Rise and Shine
This is a summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily delivered at St. Charles on October 17, 2004
"As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel 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."
DID YOU ALMOST STAY IN BED this morning because you could not drag yourself out of bed?
Congratulations to all of you who came. I read a report this week that only 30% of Catholics are regular churchgoers! So thank God for our RCIA candidates who are taking their places! Like Moses, Catholics can grow tired.
Today's Gospel is a parable "about the necessity to pray always without becoming weary." This passage is one of my favorites.
Like many of you who have lost a loved one, I strain to remember the last conversation we had with my mother before she was forever silenced by a severe stroke.
We were at a brother's house. As part of the dinner conversation my mother observed, "There was a great friend of your father's who used to say he did not believe in asking God for anything. He thought God was too busy for his little worries. Instead he thanked God. Well I for one completely disagree." Before she turned to debate the family she looked to me for theological ammunition. "Now, Gerard, is there not something in the scripture about prayer of petition?"
I retold today's gospel story about the widow who sought justice from a corrupt judge "Who cared not for God or man". The judge was unwilling, but eventually because she kept bothering him to the point that he feared she would do him bodily harm, he gave her a just decision. I remembered this passage because this gospel widow had often reminded me of my mother's persistence! "There," she declared, "that's why I believe in storming Heaven." I sometimes half pitied the Lord when my mother turned on Him the full force of her prayer.
The call is given to all of us to get up and get going. All of us are identified in today's opening reading as "Followers of the Lord". Through the sacraments of orders and matrimony some of us are specially invited. So I keep my hands up to pray like Moses despite tiredness. All of you though your prayer support those hands. In marriage we may grow too accustomed to one another and are taken for granted. Through Marriage Encounter we receive the opportunity to reawaken our first love.
Whatever our age or role or life style there is a way each one of us is brought to offer a service and a prayer. We will not weary. When we receive the bread of the covenant today let us say "Amen, yes" to the Body of Christ with enthusiasm and heart.
