29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Deacon Dick Kostner
Our readings for this Sunday provide us with a way to restore our bodies when we are too tired to continue. Our first reading from the Book of Exodus has Moses engaged in a battle with an enemy of Israel. Moses tells his commander not to fear the enemy, for he will ensure success in the mission by holding his hands up to God and praying for help. The battle goes well until he becomes tired of holding his hands up, and when he lowers them, the enemy prevails. With the help of two men to hold his hands up, they are then successful. The lesson for us here is that when we become tired and unable to go on with a task, we need to look to and pray to God, who will provide us with friends to help give us the support we need to be successful.
In our second reading from the Letter of Paul to Timothy, we find that Timothy has grown tired of trying to teach others. Paul reminds him that God has given him the tools to be successful in his vocation and that all he has to do is request strength through prayer and have patience with others for God to help give him the strength to continue and be successful.
Finally, in our Gospel from Luke, Jesus teaches his disciples through a parable to pray always when they feel overwhelmed and weary, for it is through a higher power that they will be able to find relief and success in their vocation in life. Sometimes, it will seem like God has ignored your prayers, but through persistence, God will grant support to be successful in the mission assigned to them.
We have all received from God his “wish list” for living out our life in this world. The problem is that because of the gift of freewill, God only suggests to us what would make him happy with how we actually live our lives. It is up to us to either listen and respond to his wish list for us or to spend our short time here on earth as we want and desire to live it. I have found that in most cases, when God suggests that I do something, many times I feel he has asked the wrong person for that job. Fear steps in, and the guy with horns reinforces my fears and tells me that I am right and that God has made a mistake.
I can remember when I was in my last year of Deacon Formation, before I would be ordained, I asked my friend Fr. Frank Corradi if he would be my Sponsor and Director for that last year. He looked at me, and I saw a “deer in the headlights” look in his eyes. I could tell he was trying to come up with a reason why he couldn’t oblige me, but God stepped in, his eyes softened, and he agreed.
One of the first things he directed me to do was to spend time that summer with a parishioner of his who had been diagnosed with cancer and was dying. He told me that it would be good for me to experience what the last days of someone’s life are like. Now, you need to realize that I was always afraid of death and wanted to get it out of my mind. I had even drafted a will for myself that said I did not want my wife to have any funeral for me and that I wanted to be buried within twenty-four hours of death. My thoughts were that this would make it easier for Barb and my son. The quicker, the better for everyone. Well, now it was my turn to have “deer in the headlights” eyes for Fr. Frank. What goes around comes around. I gulped hard and said, “OK.”
I spent every Tuesday morning that summer getting to know “Bill” and his wife (not his real name). We would have coffee together, and I would do a Communion Service for him and his wife. We got to be good friends, and one day I received a call from his wife telling me that he had died. She asked if I would do the Wake service for him, which I did. It was that assignment that Fr. Frank gave me that changed my way of thinking about death. I learned that people of faith are seldom afraid of death and that funerals are necessary for people to say, “Goodbye and see you later.”
My advice to you folks is that when you are asked by God to do something for him, and you bear those “deer in the headlights” eyes, just gulp hard and say, “OK!” (P.S.: God usually will surprise you with a “thank you” gift.)
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