FIRST READING
“Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed.”
A reading from the Book of Exodus (Exodus 17:5-13)
In those days: Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 121:1-2.3-4.5-6.7-8 (R. see 2)
R/. Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
from where shall come my help?
My help shall come from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. R/.
He will keep your foot from stumbling.
Your guard will never slumber.
No, he sleeps not nor slumbers, Israel’s guard. R/.
R/. Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The Lord your guard, the Lord your shade
at your right hand.
By day the sun shall not smite you,
nor the moon in the night. R/.
The Lord will guard you from evil;
he will guard your soul.
The Lord will guard your going and coming,
both now and forever. R/.
SECOND READING
“Let the man of God be complete, equipped for every good work.”
A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy (2 Timothy 3 :14-4:2)
Beloved: Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the Sacred Writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching.
The word of the Lord.
ALLELUIA Hebrews 4:12
Alleluia. The word of God is living and active, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
God will vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 18: 1-8)
At that time: Jesus told his disciples a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ For a while he refused; but afterwards he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.”’ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
TODAY’S REFLECTION
An important gesture at prayer is the raising of hands. The hand is that part of the body that we work with. It is used to receive things or show hospitality through a handshake. We normally pray, “Bless the work of our hands, O Lord.” We raise our hands to God when we desire to receive favours from him. When Moses’ hands are raised, God’s favour streams to the people of Israel. But when his hands are lowered, they begin to lose their battle until support comes. Our hands must be raised all the time, supported by a prayer of perseverance, so that God can pour his blessings on us. Prayer is effective when we cultivate perseverance. We should not grow weary in our prayer, lowering our hands. They must be raised in faith and total surrender. The widow raises her hands continually towards the unjust judge. We have to raise our hands continually and with determination towards our just and good judge.