Growing up with all brothers, it seems like we could turn just about anything into a competition. And we did. My brothers and I would have competitions for just about everything. Who could ride their bicycle the fastest? Who could get the most hits? Who could make the best grades? Who could tread water for the longest period of time? My favorite was always who could hold their breath under water for the longest period of time. I can’t tell you how many times I nearly passed under water trying to hold my breath longer than my brothers. Maybe it’s a guy thing. Or maybe, it’s just a brother thing.

At first, our first reading today sounds like one of those crazy, brother dares. Who can hold their arms up in the air the longest? Moses has got his brother, Aaron and his friend, Hur, with him. You know, those crazy brothers, Moses and Aaron. What will they think of next? But then we hear, that Moses has his arms up, holding his staff, for a reason. As long as Moses keeps his arms up in the air, the Israelites are winning the battle. And when he brings his arms down, Israel starts to lose the battle. Don’t you wonder how they figured that out? I mean, how many people died before Moses and Aaron realized that they had to keep Moses’ arms up? So then, it becomes a priority to keep Moses’ arms up. Aaron and Hur help him out. They each take an arm and hold it up for him. Remember, Moses is an old man by this point in the story. They even get rock for Moses to sit on. So Moses perseveres with a little help from his brother and his friend, and God mows down Amalek and his people, saving Israel . I’ve always thought this account from the book of Exodus would make a great underarm deodorant commercial. Wouldn’t it? Moses is wearing Right Guard under his right arm and the nation’s other leading deodorant under his left arm. Let’s ask Aaron and Hur which side smells better? O.K. - Maybe not. The point is Moses perseveres and God hears his prayers.

Then we come to our Gospel, and we get another lesson in persevering in prayer. This time it is from Jesus Himself, who tell us this story about a corrupt judge and relentlessly nagging woman. This woman will not give up. She just keeps nagging the judge until he does what she wants him to do. And point here is that Jesus is telling us that we need to pray just like this nagging woman. We must persevere in our prayer. Our God is so much better than a corrupt judge, but if we wouldn’t give up to get justice in this world, why would we ever give up when we have a loving God listening to our cries when we pray?

Jesus is telling us today that God wants to hear from us. Through prayer we are granted the privilege of being able to communicate with our Creator. Think about this! Prayer then becomes the most awesome opportunity that we have. This is better than getting to call the private number of the president of General Motors, to talk about your car. If we truly believe that we have this venue to God, then there’s absolutely no way that we as believers would ever or should ever neglect it. Prayer then becomes our hotline to God. It is not a chore. It is not another thing that we have to do. It is the MOST important connection that we have to what this life is really all about. Jesus is talking about the importance of persistence and conscientious communication with God. It matters that much. Prayer does not change God but rather prayer changes us. We might not have the ability to change God, but this first reading and this Gospel clearly indicate that our prayers do influence God’s decisions. Our persistent striving to reach God makes it easier for us to allow God to find us. We need to be people of prayer.

This widow from the Gospel today is meant to be our inspiration. What if we prayed like she nagged? What if we didn’t give up? What if we persevered for however long it took? This world, and our lives, might be very different.

Prayer was never meant to be a competition. That’s one that I don’t think that even my brothers and I thought of. But what if all of us prayed better? What if we could help one another to pray better, like Aaron and Hur did for Moses? Can you imagine what the Church would be like then? And can you imagine what would happen to the Church’s enemies? Let’s keep praying.

May God bless us and help us to persevere, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti… Pray for us !!!