Today's Catholic Sunday Mass readings for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time include one of Scripture's strangest battle accounts and Jesus' parable about a widow who wouldn't quit bothering an unjust judge.

Israel was fighting Amalek in the valley while Moses stood on a hilltop with the staff of God raised over his head. As long as Moses kept his hands raised, Israel prevailed. When his hands dropped from exhaustion, Amalek prevailed. So Aaron and Hur found a rock for Moses to sit on and stood on either side holding up his arms until sunset when Joshua defeated Amalek completely. Victory didn't come through superior strategy or weapons but through an old man on a hill keeping his arms raised, and when he couldn't do it alone, two friends held him up.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells about a widow who kept bothering an unjust judge who neither feared God nor respected people. He ignored her for a while but eventually gave in simply because her persistence wore him down. If an evil judge responds to persistence, how much more will God respond to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? But Jesus ends with a haunting question about whether the Son of Man will find faith on earth when he returns, suggesting many will give up before answers come.

Paul writes to Timothy about remaining faithful to Scripture and proclaiming the word whether convenient or inconvenient. The context is opposition and difficulty. Paul is preparing Timothy to keep arms raised when they want to drop. The Responsorial Psalm speaks to exactly this need, asking where help comes from and answering that help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

The reflection explores what happens when your arms get tired in prayer or spiritual effort, why Moses needing Aaron and Hur isn't weakness but reality about how spiritual warfare works, what it means that God's swift justice operates on different timelines than we prefer, and why Jesus asks whether he'll find faith on earth when he returns. You'll discover why persistence itself is the point when answers delay, how victory comes through community holding up what individuals cannot sustain alone, and what it means to proclaim the word when inconvenient.

This video challenges you to examine where your spiritual arms have dropped from exhaustion, who could be your Aaron and Hur to help sustain what you cannot maintain alone, what prevents you from widow-like persistence when prayer feels futile, and whether the Son of Man would find faith in you if he came today or discover you abandoned prayer when answers delayed.

📖 Readings

Exodus 17:8-13

Psalm 121

2 Timothy 3: 14-4:2

Luke 18:1-8

⏱️ Timeline

00:00 Introduction

00:15 Reading I - Exodus 17:8-13

01:06 Psalm Response - Psalm 121

05:25 Reading II - 2 Timothy 3: 14-4:2

06:15 Gospel - Luke 18:1-8

07:12 Reflection

Perfect for: Catholics whose arms have gotten tired in prayer or spiritual effort, Christians learning why persistent prayer matters when answers delay, believers discovering how community sustains what individuals cannot maintain alone, anyone studying Jesus' question about finding faith on earth, people exploring the connection between Moses' raised arms and the widow's persistence, those confronting their abandonment of prayer when God seems slow to answer

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