Reflection – Dr Nathan Leber

With Arms Raised…

Today’s readings are about persistence. Persistence in prayer is not about getting what we want, but about justice and righteousness for those who cry out to God. Prayer is about faithful relationships, and if we can accept that God is always just, then we will receive the victory that is promised us. Jesus’ parable of the importunate (unrelenting) widow again teaches about persistence in the face of injustice. For us as well, as long as we labour for truth, faith, love, and justice, we will prevail. As St Paul tells Timothy, “proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience…” In other words, stay the course even when it is difficult and inconvenient. We can “storm heaven” with prayers, but justice must be at its core, and it will take time. Sin can be addictive, and sometimes it is not just a mind which needs changing, but healing which must take place…and this can take time. It was such with the constant prayers of a mother named Monica who prayer persistently for her son to change his wild, sinful and errant ways, a son who would eventually, after much time, trials and tribulation, be converted and finally canonised as Saint Augustine. His interest in the nature of sin is indicative of his earlier life as a sinner, a life which was difficult for him to depart from. Yet persistence won the day. Yet there are times when we all grow weary, even for Moses. It is in the First Reading that we see the support that comes to righteous and just who fight in God’s name, as Aaron and Hur hold up the arms of Moses as he delivers God’s justice to the world. As Christ himself lay transfixed to the cross, arms spread out in the agony of fatigue, there was no one there to support his arms like Aaron and Hur. In that moment, he even began to lose his sight of the divine, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (My God, my God, why have You deserted me?) Yet he persisted in prayer and sacrifice, in love for God and for us, and he too won the greatest victory. In opening his arms to us, we receive the support we need whenever we are burdened or weary. So that we too can cry out to the Lord, “Into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Jesus’ words echo Psalm 31, itself a prayer in time of ordeal and a fitting accompaniment for today’s readings). As Pope Francis said, God asks us to pray continuously not because he doesn’t know what we need or because he isn’t listening. It is so that we know He is at our side, so that we can feel His presence, mercy and help…”and our weapon is prayer.” So, let us hold our arms up to the Lord and never grow tired of prayers of justice and praise in His name, so that when the Son of Man does come, he will find faith on this earth in us!

Dr Nathan Leber