29th Sunday C

Welcome to our Bible
Study
29th
Sunday in the Ordinary Time
16 October 2016
In preparation for this Sunday’s liturgy
As aid in focusing our homilies and sharing
Prepared by Fr. Cielo R. Almazan, OFM

1st
Reading: Exodus 17,8-13
 8 In those days, Amalek came and waged war against
Israel. 9 Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick out
certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage
Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill
with the staff of God in my hand." 10 So Joshua did
as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after
Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron
and Hur. 11 As long as Moses kept his hands raised
up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let
his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. 12
Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock
in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur
supported his hands, one on one side and one on the
other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
13 And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people
with the edge of the sword. The focus is on getting tired.

1st
Amalek vs. Israel
 8 In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel.
Command of Moses to Joshua
 9 Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick out certain men, and
tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on
top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand."
Execution of command
 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle
after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur.
Hands raised, hands down spell victory or defeat
 11 As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better
of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better
of the fight.
 12 Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place
for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands,
one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained
steady till sunset.
Victory of the Israelites over Amalek
 13 And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge
of the sword.
A simple outline! Pay attention to the bold letters.

Textual Context of Ex 17,8-13
1. Exodus: Deliverance Traditions (1-18)
 A. Israel in Egypt (1)
B. Early Moses (2-4)
C. Plagues (5-11)
D. Passover (12:1-13:16)
E. Exodus from Egypt (13:17-15:21)
F. Wilderness Journey (15:22-18:27)
2. Sinai: Covenant Traditions (19-40)
 A. Theophany on the Mountain (19)
B. Law and Covenant (20-24)
 1. Ethical Decalogue (20:1-17)
2. Book of the Covenant (20:18-23:33)
3. Law Collections from Mesopotamia
 C. Covenant Confirmation (24)
D. Covenant Breaking and Remaking (32-34)
 1. Golden Calf (32-33)
2. Covenant Remaking (34)
 E. Tabernacle (25-31, 35-40)

1st
Amalek vs. Israel
 8 In those days, Amalek came and waged
war against Israel.
 9 Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick
out certain men, and tomorrow go out and
engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing
on top of the hill with the staff of God in my
hand."
 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him: he
engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had
climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and
Hur.
Hands raised, hands down spell victory or
defeat
 11 As long as Moses kept his hands raised
up, Israel had the better of the fight, but
when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the
better of the fight.
 12 Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so
they put a rock in place for him to sit on.
Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his
hands, one on one side and one on the
other, so that his hands remained steady
till sunset.
 13 And Joshua mowed down Amalek and
his people with the edge of the sword.
Commentary
 En route to Mt. Sinai, the Israelites
encounter the Amalekites. These are
fierce fighters in the desert who try to
destroy Israel, an intruder from their
point of view.
 Here in v.9, Moses and Joshua
become warriors. Moses makes the
strategy. Joshua will directly fight
with the Amalekites and Moses will
serve as an inspiration (standing on
hilltop).
 V.10 fulfills what is said in v.9.
 V.11 tells us something unusual
(funny). Hands raised = victory of
Israel, defeat of Amalek. Hands
down = victory of Amalek, defeat of
Israel.
 What is the connection between the
position of the hands and the result
of the war?
 We just accept what is described in
the text.

1st
Amalek vs. Israel
 8 In those days, Amalek came and waged
war against Israel.
 9 Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick
out certain men, and tomorrow go out and
engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing
on top of the hill with the staff of God in my
hand."
 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him: he
engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had
climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and
Hur.
Hands raised, hands down spell victory or
defeat
 11 As long as Moses kept his hands raised
up, Israel had the better of the fight, but
when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the
better of the fight.
 12 Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so
they put a rock in place for him to sit on.
Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his
hands, one on one side and one on the
other, so that his hands remained steady
till sunset.
 13 And Joshua mowed down Amalek and
his people with the edge of the sword.
 One important observation in v.12:
Moses’ hands “grew tired.”
(nangawit)
 There should be a remedy to this.
 Aaron and Hur support his hands
till sunset.
 The result: Israel is victorious over
Amalekites. V.13

Reflections on the 1st
reading
 When we are facing a big trouble, we must first of
all overcome fatigue.
 To overcome fatigue, we need others to bear with
us (to help carry our burden).
 We must keep up our fighting spirit.
 Hands outstretched, hands up are symbols of
prayer.
 We must not give up our struggles.
 If we declare ourselves tired, we spell defeat.
 We cannot go on anywhere if we easily give up or
get tired. (This is attitudinal.)

Resp. Ps 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
 R. (cf. 2) Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and
earth.
1 I lift up my eyes toward the mountains; whence shall help come to
me?
2 My help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 May he not suffer your foot to slip;
may he slumber not who guards you:
4 indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps,
the guardian of Israel.
5 The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade;
he is beside you at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life.
8 The LORD will guard your coming and your going,
both now and forever.

Resp. Ps 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
 R. (cf. 2) Our help is from the Lord, who
made heaven and earth.
1 I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
2 My help is from the LORD, who made heaven
and earth.
3 May he not suffer your foot to slip;
may he slumber not who guards you:
4 indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps,
the guardian of Israel.
5 The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is
your shade;
he is beside you at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the
moon by night.
7 The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will
guard your life.
8 The LORD will guard your coming and your
going, both now and forever.
Commentary
In vv.1-2, the psalmist waits for
help. He is in trouble.
He expects help from God, the
creator of heaven and earth.
Vv.3-4 affirm God’s power to
preserve us. God protects us day
and night.
Vv.5-6 continue to say that God
is a good guard (shade). Not even
the sun or the moon may do us
harm.
Vv.7-8 say God guards us from
evil, from harm.
God protects us in and out of
our homes.

Reflections on the Psalm
 We who experience threats, intimidation and
danger must not forget to call on the name of
the Lord for help.
 The psalmist helps us formulate our prayers.
 We must be able to console ourselves by
affirming that God is our guard, shield and
protector from all harm and evil.
 We must pray for safety.

2nd
Reading: 2 Timothy 3,14—4,2
 14 Remain faithful to what you have learned and
believed, because you know from whom you
learned it, 15 and that from infancy you have known
(the) sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving
you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is
useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and
for training in righteousness, 17 so that one who
belongs to God may be competent, equipped for
every good work.
 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of
Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingly power: 2
proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is
convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand,
encourage through all patience and teaching.
The focus is on remaining faithful.

2nd
1st
command
 14 Remain faithful to what you have learned and
believed, because you know from whom you learned
it, 15 and that from infancy you have known (the)
sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you
wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for
teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training
in righteousness, 17 so that one who belongs to God
may be competent, equipped for every good work.
 2nd
command(s)
 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ
Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by
his appearing and his kingly power: 2 proclaim the
word; be persistent whether it is convenient or
inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through
all patience and teaching.
A simple outline!

Textual Context of 2 Tim 3,14—4,2
Salutation, 1,1-2
Exhortation to courageous witness on the basis of Paul’s
example, 1,3—2,13
Behavior toward heretics, 2,14—4,8
Paul’s personal situation, 4,9-18
Greetings, 4,19-22

2nd
1st
command
 14 Remain faithful to what you
have learned and believed,
because you know from whom
you learned it, 15 and that from
infancy you have known (the)
sacred scriptures, which are
capable of giving you wisdom for
salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. 16 All scripture is
inspired by God and is useful for
teaching, for refutation, for
correction, and for training in
righteousness, 17 so that one
who belongs to God may be
competent, equipped for every
good work.
 2nd
command
 4:1 I charge you in the presence
of God and of Christ Jesus, who
will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his
kingly power: 22 proclaim the
word; be persistent whether it is
convenient or inconvenient;
convince, reprimand, encourage
through all patience and
teaching.
Commentary
 V.14 expresses the first command of Paul
to Timothy. “Remain faithful”
 To what?
 What you have learned and believed
 What you have known from infancy, v.15
 The sacred scriptures (OT):
 Gives wisdom for salvation
 V.16 tells what sacred scriptures is
all about:
 Inspired
 Useful for teaching, refutation,
correction, training for righteousness
 To make competent / equipped in every
good work, v.17
 4,1-2 express the second set of commands:
 Proclaim the word
 be persistent
 Convince
 Reprimand
 Encourage

Reflections on the 2nd
reading
 As Christians, we should cultivate obedience to God’s
commands.
 One of God’s commands is to remain faithful to the
teachings of the sacred scriptures (Bible).
 We must be relentless in learning more about the
God’s Word written in the Bible.
 Another God’s command is to proclaim it. We use the
scriptures to correct and reprimand.
 We use the Bible in our mission to build up people.
 Bible-less apostolate and mission contradicts Christian
obedience.
 Pastoral activities must be inspired by the Word of
God. (Verbum Domini)

Gospel Reading: Luke 18:1-8
 1 Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity
for them to pray always without becoming weary. He
said, 2 "There was a judge in a certain town who
neither feared God nor respected any human being. 3
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' 4
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually
he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor
respect any human being, 5 because this widow keeps
bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest
she finally come and strike me.'" 6 The Lord said, "Pay
attention to what the dishonest judge says. 7 Will not
God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call
out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer
them? 8 I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done
for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will
he find faith on earth?" The focus is on persistent prayer.

The teaching on praying always
 1 Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray
always without becoming weary.
The wicked judge
 He said, 2 "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor
respected any human being. 3 And a widow in that town used to come to him
and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.'
The persistent judge
 4 For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is
true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
The persistent widow
 5 because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.'"
The judge who gives in
 6 The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
The God who gives what is due to his chosen people
 7 Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him
day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? 8 I tell you, he will see to it
that justice is done for them speedily.
The persistent faith
 But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
A simple outline!

Textual Context of Luke 18:1-8
Travel Narrative: Luke 9,51-19,27
Luke 16,1-8a The Parable of the Dishonest Steward
Luke 16,8b-13 Application of the Parable
Luke 16,14-18 A Saying Against the Pharisees
Luke 16, 19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 17,1-10 Some sayings of Jesus
Luke 17,11-19 Jesus Cleanses the Ten Lepers
Luke 17,20-37 The Coming of the Kingdom
Luke 18,1-8 The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge
Luke 18,9-14 The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican
Luke 18,15-17 Jesus Blesses the Little Children
Luke 18,18-30 The Rich Ruler
Luke 18,31-34 A Third Time Jesus Predicts his death and resurrection

The teaching on praying always
 1 Jesus told his disciples a
parable about the necessity for
them to pray always without
becoming weary.
The wicked judge and the
persistent widow
 He said, 2 "There was a judge
in a certain town who neither
feared God nor respected any
human being. 3 And a widow in
that town used to come to him
and say, 'Render a just decision
for me against my adversary.'
The persistent judge
 4 For a long time the judge was
unwilling, but eventually he
thought, 'While it is true that I
neither fear God nor respect
any human being,
Commentary
 In v.1, Jesus teaches his disciples
to pray always (to be persistent in
prayer, walang kapaguran)
 The parable of the wicked judge or
the persistent widow backs up the
teaching of Jesus on persistent
prayer.
 The parable presents two
characters: judge and widow.
 The judge does not fear God and
is not respecter of people.v.2
 The widow is persistent in coming
to the judge to give her justice. V.3
 In v.4, the persistently wicked
judge gives in. His reasoning picks
up his own description given by the
narrator in v.2.

The persistent widow
 5 because this widow keeps
bothering me I shall deliver a
just decision for her lest she
finally come and strike me.'"
The judge who gives in
 6 The Lord said, "Pay attention
to what the dishonest judge
says.
The God who gives what is due
to his chosen people
 7 Will not God then secure the
rights of his chosen ones who
call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?
8 I tell you, he will see to it that
justice is done for them speedily.
The persistent faith
 But when the Son of Man
comes, will he find faith on
earth?"
 V.5 expresses in a negative
way the idea of persistence.
 Persistence can force the
wicked judge to make a just
decision (in favor of the widow).
 In v.6, the Lord speaks on
what the judge says (logic).
 In similar vein, God will not be
slow to listen to the prayer of
those who pray always, day
and night. V.7
 V.8 assures us the swiftness of
God’s response.
 V.8b poses a question which
has an eschatological
dimension (end-time).
 When Christ comes again, will
he find us praying?

Reflections on the gospel reading
 We Christians must pray always.
 We must develop the habit and discipline of praying.
 We must not stop praying even if God does not seem
to be listening.
 When we pray, it should be emotion laden, with
feelings, with passion.
 We don’t senselessly murmur our prayers, as if we
have no need of them at all.
 It is a big disaster if we give up praying.
 Reminder: Christ is coming again, any time. He should
find us praying.

Tying the 3 readings and the Psalm
 The first reading encourages us to defy fatigue (to
be persistent) to finish our mission.
 The psalm teaches us to call on God in times of
need.
 The second reading encourages us to remain
faithful (to be persistent) to the Christian teachings.
 The gospel reading encourages to pray persistently.

How to develop your sharing / homily
 Describe your prayerlife.
 How long do you pray?
 Where? What do you pray for?
 Have you stopped praying?
 The readings teach us not to stop, but persevere
in praying.

 The first reading teaches us to overcome fatigue
in our struggles, in our prayers.
 In our prayers, we need support from one
another.
 It is not good to be praying all alone, all the time.
 We need to pray with other people.
 We must pray as a family or as a community.
 When we persistently pray together, we build our
own family and community.
 And we shall overcome…

 The second reading mentions about being
persistent, in obeying God’s commands.
 We should persistently use the sacred scriptures
to teach, chastise, correct, etc., other people.
 We use the Bible as the basis of our teachings.
 To be persistent is to remain faithful to the
teachings of the sacred scriptures as a way to
holiness.
 The psalm helps us express our persistent
prayer to God.

 The gospel reading through a parable teaches
us to be persistent in prayer.
 Why should we not?
 Even a wicked judge can change his mind if we
are persistent.
 God is swift to answer persistent prayers.
 When we are persistent, we give importance to
our petitions.
 When we pray just once, maybe we are not
serious with our petitions.
 We persistently pray because we love
ourselves and other people.

 It is not the Christian way to pray without
persistence.
 Praying persistently is keeping our lines always
open to God.
 To give up easily is a bad sign.
 It does not help anyone, even yourself.
 You are doing a great disservice to the people
you want to help.

 The holy mass is the highest form of persistent
prayer. We celebrate it no matter what happens.
 In the eucharist, Jesus comes down to us to
acknowledge our persistent prayers.
 The eucharist is the answer to most of our
prayers. What more can we ask if Jesus is with
us?
 He may not answer our little petitions right away,
but he assures us that he will soon answer us, in
his time, provided that we are persistent in our
prayers.

Our Context of Sin and Grace
 Defeatist
 No stamina
 No fighting spirit
 No time to pray
 Avoids prayer
 Not in control of noisy
situations
 Prayerful,
contemplative
 Praying always
 Hoping against hope
 Knows how to pray
with the community
 Reflection, meditation
 Prayerful lifestyle

Suggested Songs
 When We Eat
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qg_-wvSm7M
 It’s Time to Prepare
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIandBaBMck
 Lord, I Know (communion)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulqjOjYZOns&feature=related

 Dear sisters and brothers,
 Let us be persistent in our prayers. If you
easily give up, maybe what you are asking
from God is not important.
 Fr. Cielo

29th Sunday C

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29th Sunday C