St. Celine

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day
Saitn Silouan : "Pray always without becoming weary."

Reading

Ex. 17,8-13.
At Rephidim, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. 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." 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. 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. 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. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.


Ps 121(120),1-2.3-4.5-6.7-8.
A song of ascents. I raise my eyes toward the mountains. From where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.
God will not allow your foot to slip; your guardian does not sleep.
Truly, the guardian of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps.
The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade at your righthand.
By day the sun cannot harm you, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will guard you from all evil, will always guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and going both now and forever.

2 Tim 3,14-17.4,1-2.
But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known (the) sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 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: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

Lk 18,1-8.
Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' 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, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'" The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. 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? 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?"

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day

Saitn Silouan (1866-1938), Orthodox monk Writings

"Pray always without becoming weary."

I have spent my life in both well-doing and in sins and, over sixty years, I have come to recognise the strength of habit. Mind and intellect can acquire habits, too. Man does what he is in the habit of doing. If he is habituated to sin then he will be constantly attracted to sin and the demons will push him into it. But if he is habituated to well-doing then God will help him by his grace.

If you get into the habit of praying unceasingly, of loving your neighbour and of weeping in prayer for the whole world then your soul will be drawn towards prayer, tears and love. And if you form the habit of almsgiving, of being obedient, of being open in confession towards your spiritual father, then you will always act in the same manner and so you will come to peace.