Brothers and sisters
“Persistence in prayer & the importance of community are the themes coming through our reading this Sunday: In the first reading we have the strange but interesting tale of Moses interceding for the Israelites as they fought a battle with their enemies, the Amalekites. Whenever Moses held his hands up while holding the staff, eith the help of Aaron & Hur, the Israelites were winning the battle over the Amalekites. But whenever he lowered his hands, they lost the battle - a reminder of how prayer is connected to action. This is how a Christian community is constructed: some fight on the outside & others on the inside.
God wants us to persist in prayer not just to get what we ask for but as the CCC explains because its important to ask than to get what we ask for. By asking, “we express awareness of our relationship with God,” the Giver, Who, “in giving, gives the far more precious gift of himself.” God wants us to exercise our desire in prayer, so “that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give.”
We pray that we will people who prays always & lead their life in the awareness of the loving gaze of God. Also who in joy and in pain remain in the assurance of being ever accompanied by God. May retain the capacity to hold on tight in faith even when the conditions are not favourable.
AMEN.