Perseverance

Someone once told me: ‘attitude is everything’, for example, the attitude we bring to life and life’s challenges; the attitude I bring to work, to marriage, to family; a positive attitude or a negative attitude, etc. Attitude can be everything!

And then there is this attitude: ‘As long as I feel like it’! Have you ever worked with anyone with this kind of attitude or ever lived with a person with this attitude? What happens? (As-long-as-I-feel-like it? Think!)

The readings this weekend challenge us to live by another kind of attitude, the attitude that the Christian/believer/disciple must have and bring to the world, and this attitude is: ‘Perseverance’ (perseverance in God and in prayer, in all things). Perseverance is and must be the "in thing" for the Christian believer.

Why?
Firstly, perseverance because for the Christian believer, God is necessary! We cannot do without Him, God is ‘enough’!

Think about the many people who ask - What is enough in life? Or what is it that I truly cannot do without? What is necessary in life? The answer for the believer is clear: God is that which is necessary. We therefore must always stay with him, preserve in him and nothing else!

The first reading today from Exodus tells the story of the first battle of our Hebrew ancestors in the promised land. Many exodus events serve to remind the people that God is necessary, we cannot do without him. For example, the release from Egypt, the crossing of the red sea, etc. Whenever they put forth the as-long-as-I-feel-like-it attitude, things got sour for them, they fail. They must preserve with and in God.

The Amalekites were a nomad tribe who controlled the trading routes that passed through the promised land, and they despised their new neighbors the Israelites and so a war was waged. Moses is the leader/prophet/mediator between God and his people. As the war rages on, he is led to the top of a hill and if he kept his hands raised, ‘Israel had the better fight’ and when he grew tired and let his hands low, the Amalekites had the better of the fight. This gesture of raising hands is a common gesture of prayer and persistence. It is also an acknowledgement/surrender to a higher power or force to intervene. The better of the fight is won or achieved with and in God. Our efforts/merits can only take us for a while. It is not about us and what we do, but about Him and perseverance.

Is it easy to preserve with God? No, not at all! St. Paul in the second reading speaks to those who find it challenging (like we do). The actual challenge is that it is not always stylish (in vogue) to preserve. A Christian can be tempted ‘to go with the flow’, to compromise God (as-long-as-I-feel-like-it). St. Paul sounds the alert and urges all to go back to the Scriptures that are the inspired word of God. The Scriptures gave us the wisdom of salvation which is that Christ is indispensable! Read the bible!

Where are we to find the wisdom of living - that which eludes many today? In the Scriptures, in perseverance with God. It begins here!

‘Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary’.

The Gospel does not hide the fact that it is hard and difficult to preserve with God, but it is not impossible! Be constant and consistent in prayer, this is the lifeline. God does not tire of listening. He is the unsleeping guardian. Perseverance is the "in thing" for the Christian believer!

Husbands and wives who continually support each other through thick and thin and reject ‘the modern version of marriage’ (based on that as-long-as-I-feel-like-it attitude). Perseverance is the key! When we consistently attend to the needs of the poor, sick and needy we refuse to live by a fair-weathered friend mindset (as-long-as-I-feel-like-it). Demonstrating perseverance is the key. Professional people who never cease to care for all people equitably, say no to the as-long-as-I-feel-like-it attitude, to preserve in doing what is just and right!

The Eucharist - Christ’s suffering death and resurrection - tell the story of one who did the Father's will no matter what!  We are challenged to adopt the same lifestyle. Whoever eats and drinks of the body and blood of Christ must summon the strength to live by the truth that perseverance in God, the value of prayer, is what we are called to witness.

Fr. Anthony Mpagi,
Pastor of Our Lady of Hope