16 October 2022 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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 on it. 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 sun set. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.
From Exodus 17:8-13, NRSV

It may seem strange to our way of thinking that Moses should pray to God for the defeat of his enemies in battle. Perhaps we need to remember that the revelation of God’s love for all has been a long process and that in some ways is still to be fully understood. So what can we take from today’s reading? Moses and the people faced a real threat from the power of the Amalekites. Moses was at that time an old man and so had to leave the actual fighting to Joshua and others. As he had learned through his long and eventful life, Moses was called to place his trust in God. He positioned himself on a hill from where he could be seen and prayed for his people. The posture of prayer required that he hold his arms aloft. This would be difficult for many of us to maintain for long. Moses needed help and this was given by his brother and another companion – both of similar age to Moses. Their trust in their Lord was absolute and enabled them to persevere in prayer beyond the point of despair and exhaustion.

• • What does this event tell us of Moses’ relationship with God?
  • What helps you to persevere with prayer and to place your trust in God?

Spend some time in prayer today for your own needs and the needs of others – perhaps for longer than you would usually do so.