2025/10/19 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
- Leo Rubinkowski, Manager of Events & Ministry Engagement
“He neither slumbers nor sleeps, the guardian of Israel.” – Psalm 121:4
The question with which this week’s gospel reading closes…it hangs in the air, looming and disconcerting. Our Lord wonders aloud: “Will I find faith when I come?” It’s as though my wife—whom I praise, sing to, compliment, kiss, touch, talk to, and otherwise lavish with affection—had told me she is on her way home from work and asked with doubt in her voice, “Will I find love when I arrive?” How could she doubt me? How could my Lord doubt me? Then again, the evidence of my faithlessness is not hard to come by: “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3). When the Son of Man comes, is it even possible that He could find me faithful?
No; but more emphatically and joyfully, Yes. “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). Such is the startling and consoling proposition of this week’s readings.
Consider two facets of the account of Israel’s victory over the Amalekites. First, there is the cause of Israel’s strength: “As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight….” Moses’ pose—arms outstretched in priestly prayer—anticipates the Crucifixion and begs for comparison to Christ crucified. Moses prays on behalf of Israel, but he tires. The Lord, having once offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice to the glory of the Father, “is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)
Second, there is the scope of participation in Israel’s victory: although Moses is the decisive actor, he is neither the only actor nor the only victor. At Moses’ instruction, Joshua leads the Israelite army into battle; although God might have rescued Israel through Moses alone, as at the parting of the Red Sea, the victory over Amalek belongs also to the people working with Moses. I am reminded of Paul’s reflection on his suffering: “in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Colossians 1:24). Although Christ’s sacrifice is totally sufficient, He allows us to participate in His wonderful work, and then so closely that we do not regard ourselves as separate participants, but as participants joined to Him. His victory is shared and continues to be accomplished in His Mystical Body, the Church.
Paul, encouraging Timothy in this knowledge, encourages us, as well. “Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it.” Paul refers to himself, yes, but only insofar as he is a minister of Christ and His Church, because faith—“the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)—is not the product of persuasive argument; it is a gift of God directly given to us (CCC 153). Paul teaches, but he is not the Teacher; Paul gives, but he is not the Giver.
And then Paul instructs “proclaim the word…,” so that what Paul received and what Timothy received may be received by others still. As the Catechism explains, “‘Believing’ is an ecclesial act. The Church’s faith precedes, engenders, supports, and nourishes our faith” (CCC 181). The Church confesses Christ, and you and I, by a gift of God, confess with Her. The Church works with Christ as His Body, so that we work with Christ as members of His Body. Listen for the evidence of this reality on Sunday. How often will the presider offer prayers and ask for blessings “through Christ our Lord”? When the priest prays, following the Consecration, “we offer you, Lord, the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation,” are we offering something other than what Christ offered on the Cross, or do we offer our imperfect selves with His perfect offering? Before the Sign of Peace, take note of how we receive that peace: “Lord Jesus Christ…, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity….” We personally receive from Christ what He pours out through His Church.
“But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
If possessing and cultivating our faith depended on each of us individually, the answer could only be No. If you think otherwise, ask whether you really believe you can “pray always without becoming weary.” So what hope is there? The hope of the Psalmist: “My help is from the LORD. … He neither slumbers nor sleeps, the guardian of Israel.” Christ, our perfect and constant intercessor, prays always without becoming weary. The Church, His Body, prays through, with, and in Him always without becoming weary. When the Son of Man comes, He will find faith on earth. It is the faith He pours out with generous abandon (cf. John 14:15-21) to each of us, if only, with the Church, we will ask “I believe; help my unbelief!”