Homily 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 16, 2022

 Readings can be found here.

            While in college, I went through the Navy ROTC program to earn my commission as an officer upon graduation.  Part of my training was a 3 day “boot camp” at school.  We were taught many things, including how to properly wear our uniforms.  One evening, we were told to prepare for a uniform inspection the next day.  We pressed military creases in our pants and shirts.  We shined our shoes.  And we also looked everywhere for what we called “Irish pennants”.  These were loose threads in the seams or around the pockets.  Heaven help a midshipman if one was found on their uniform!

Alas, I didn’t pay sufficient attention to detail.  During inspection, the person reviewing me pulled a several inch long thread from my pocket and dangled it in front of my face.  I was required to hold the thread between two fingers, arm extended, for all to see.  And keep it there until told otherwise.  It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but after 5 minutes or so, my arm got tired and began to droop.  One of my student superiors got in my face and yelled to get my arm back up.  I recall being told “what’s the matter, that thread too heavy for you?”  What seemed to be something light felt very heavy after a while.

            I can completely understand how Moses felt during the battle with Amalek.  I was only required to keep my arm up for minutes.  Moses held his arms up the entire day!  I’m sure Moses had good intensions when he told Joshua to engage the enemy.  He set a spiritual goal for himself: use the staff of God to support his people.  Moses probably thought it would be an easy task.  How heavy could the staff be?  God would be on their side so they would surely defeat the enemy quickly.  But the battle lasted much longer than Moses expected, and his arms grew weary.

            In our Gospel, Jesus tells us we need to pray always without growing weary.  However, being human, we do become tired.  Or we may become discouraged.  When Moses became weary, he had Aaron and Hur to help him.  Moses intended to stand with staff in hand during the battle.  His friends convinced him to sit and supported his arms until the battle was won.  By himself, Moses didn’t have the strength he needed.  With the help of others, Moses overcame his weariness.

            In our faith journey, we also can become weary.  We may have burdens others consider light but are becoming heavy for us.  Perhaps we feel like we’re only going through the motions.  Or that God isn’t answering our prayers.  How can we get support when we grow weary?  To begin we can ask others to pray for us.  But, just as importantly, we can pray with others.  Jesus told us where two or more are gathered in His name, He will be with them.  There are formal prayer groups at Nativity like the prayer shawl ministry or the rosary society.  However, we can also pray with friends and family members.  For example, praying for a specific intention before saying grace at family meals.  Or praying the rosary together as a family.

            Ministering to others is another way to overcome spiritual weariness.  It seems counter intuitive, but in serving others, we serve Jesus.  Serving Jesus gives us the graces and the strength we need to move forward in our spiritual journey.  There are many ministries we can be involved in here at Nativity.  Beyond serving others, those involved in the ministries support each other.  Recently at a committee meeting, we got on the topic of how to guide our children back to the faith that have fallen away.  We didn’t have any answers but knowing there were others struggling with the same concern eased the burden.

            Jesus says we must pray always without becoming weary.  However, like Moses, there are times in our spiritual journey where we do tire.  Are we weary?  What things in our lives seemed light but now are becoming heavy?  Moses had Aaron and Hur to support him.  Who in our lives can we turn to for support?  Who do we know that may be weary and needs our prayers and support?