Homily: October 16, 2022, Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

From the first reading we heard: “As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight.”

Have you tried keeping both your hands raised up high for hours? And not lowering to rest even for a minute?

Yes, it is very tiring. That’s what Moses had to do, he would not rest one bit and so Aaron and Hur had to help support his arms to keep them up.

Why? What do you think they were doing? Was there some supernatural power in the raising of his hands, so that Israel got the advantage at battle?

No. What Moses was doing, was really interceding for Israel, with the raising of his hands, offering his most sincere and intense prayers to God. He was praying unceasingly, without rest. Aaron and Hur assisting him, interceding with him.

And Jesus affirms and assures us in the Gospel, "Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?”

Yes, call out to our God, day and night, persist in prayer, pray unceasingly, keep connected with Him always, send messages of praise and thanks continuously, receive responses of love and grace endlessly. The data plan for prayer is unlimited, it costs you nothing to connect with God anytime, anywhere.

My grandma became blind before I was born, so she had never seen me. In fact, she had not seen my older brother too and my two younger sisters. But she had never been grumpy about it. In my memory, she was loving, cheerful and prayerful. I recall seeing her always sitting in the corner of her room, holding the rosary in prayer. She prayed with her green rosary gifted long time ago by a bishop who was a distant relative. She prayed the rosary from morning, then continued praying with us during our family prayer. And on sleepless nights, she recited every prayer she knew from memory.

She was our family’s powerful intercessor, our prayer warrior. Whenever my papa had a prayer intention, he would ask grandma to pray for him. We did the same.  Every day, we would say good-bye to her before setting off for school and during examination time, we would ask for her prayers. So what did she do? She would pray the rosary for us from the moment we set off till the time we got home. 

Are you known to be a prayerful person? Do you know someone who is prayerful?

Praying is a lifestyle, the main activity of a Christian. You cannot claim to have a relationship with God if you do not pray. Just as you cannot be in a relationship with someone whom you do not even keep in contact with.

When I was preparing for my first communion, the catechist taught us that “prayer is a loving communication with God”. It is like picking up the phone to call a friend who is always available for you, who will always pick up your call to listen to you talk, grumble and rant. He enjoys hearing your voice, listening to your stories, receiving your thanks, He even welcomes your complains. But after you speak, do you also keep silent to listen to Him. In fact, Mother Teresa said that “listening is the beginning of prayer”, so ideally, when we call on God, we should start by listening before we talk.

Oftentimes in the day, I would see one or two people in church, deep in prayer before the tabernacle. That is beautiful. If prayer is not yet in your daily routine, it is never too late to start. Make it a habit, make it a part of your day, make it a must-have…

From the book “The Priest Is Not His Own”, Fulton Sheen wrote that "The average American is physically, biologically, psychologically and neurologically unable to do anything worthwhile before he has a cup of coffee. And that goes for prayer too."

Yes, we are God’s children and we should develop an intimate relationship with Him such that we cannot do anything worthwhile in the day before we connect with Him first. Yes, let us always pray to begin the day.

So, you are praying. Are you alone in your prayer? Is someone praying with you and for you?

I am sure both my parents and all my grandparents are praying from heaven, for me and my siblings. I have also asked many people to support me in my ministry with their prayers. I am blessed to have “seven sisters” who adopted me as their brother priest to pray for, each taking a day of the week to offer a holy hour for me. If you do not think anyone is praying for you, ask, request, invite someone to be your intercessor, your parents, children, spouse, close friend, community, the cloistered nuns. As your priest, I am always praying for all of you. Don’t ever be shy to ask.

So you are praying and there is someone praying for you. Do you pray for others? Anyone in particular?

When we have a relationship with God, we should have an extended relationship with everyone related to God, that means all His other children. Whomever He loves, we want to love too. And so we bring others into our communication with God. We do not just tell Him about our own needs, we tell Him also about the needs of others.

We begin to grow in faith and holiness, to become more like Christ, when we begin to become an intercessor for others.

In our parish, we have a ministry called ‘Prayer Chain’ where we pray for those in need and those who requested for prayers. Join us and see how you shine brighter when you direct your prayers for others.

God wants us to connect with him always. Like little children, we trust our heavenly Father, we desire His attention, His blessings and His help, we have to keep on bothering him, asking Him for ourselves and for others, what we need most in life – His graces. For this, He is more than happy to give.

 Amen.

Fr. Nivin Scaria

Rector, St. Ambrose Cathedral, Des Moines, IA