Today I’m back to strange questions. However, this one may be easy for Latin scholars, or if there aren’t too many of you around, then perhaps for those of you who like movies such as “The Gladiators” or “Spartacus.” Actually, my question has two parts: first of all: What is meant by the letters “S…P…Q…R?” And secondly, where would you find them? SPQR?
Well if you took Latin or if you’ve watched a lot of so-called “spaghetti westerns,” you might recall that “SPQR” stands for “Senátus Populusque Romanus.” It means: “the Senate and People of Rome.” These letters were seen on the standards that lead the Roman legions into battle as they conquered the ancient world. Battle standards, and later battle flags, were a very important part of warfare in ancient times. Perhaps they still are, unfortunately.
I raise the question about the Roman “SPQR,” since we heard about another battle standard in our first reading for today. We heard, a few minutes ago, about a battle between the Israelites and their enemies. We heard how the Israelite general, Joshua, led them into battle. And how, the Israelites needed their own battle standard. But since they could not make an image of the Lord God to show that he was with them in battle, they relied on the appearance of his prophet Moses.
Moses stood there on the hill where everyone could see him. In his outstretched hand, he held the staff that had led them out of Egypt:
● the staff that had once turned into serpents which devoured the other snakes brought forth by pharaoh’s magicians,
● the staff Moses had used to part the Red Sea at the beginning of their long Exodus to the promised land,
● the staff he used to strike the rock which then poured forth water in the desert.
But Moses became tired holding his arms outstretched. Yet he could not let them drop. For when he did, the Israelites began to lose. It was only when he kept his arms up, that his people could see that God was, indeed, with them and that they could defeat their enemy. So Moses enlisted the help of his brother, Aaron, and Hur, another leader. They stood beside Moses and helped to support his arms throughout the battle, which the Israelites finally won.
For the Israelites, Moses, with his outstretched arms, was a sign of the persistent presence of the Lord God. Moses, too, was persistent, although he had help in his persistence, as perhaps, many of us need the help of others in our own persistence.
Our gospel story, of course, also speaks of persistence. A few minutes ago, we heard Jesus tell a story to his disciples about a persistent widow, whose petitions are granted because she is so persistent. How her case is refused to be heard by a dishonest judge
● a judge who does not fear God, himself,
● a judge who does not respect any other human being,
● a judge who has no sense of shame, no sense of what is right or wrong.
Now our widow had several options. First of all, she could have forgotten about her rights and merely walked away. She could have ceased looking for justice. Or since the judge was dishonest, perhaps she could have tried to bribe him, to pay him for granting to her what she rightfully deserved. But, instead, what did she do? She persisted.
Now she may have done things that, if she tried to do them today, she would be charged with public harassment. But regardless of what she may have done, her persistence paid off and the judge rendered a just decision for her.
A “just” decision, it says. So he did not rule in her favor only because she kept after him. No, she obtained the decision that she truly deserved but in a case that the dishonest judge had been reluctant to hear and act upon.
And why did Jesus tell his disciples such a story? We heard the reason at the beginning of Luke’s account of it, when Luke wrote: “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.”
At the conclusion of his parable, Jesus, himself, pointed out: if a dishonest judge will grant a widow’s petition “… will not God … [who unconditionally loves the petitioner, grant] … the rights … [of those who pray to him?]”
Yes, today’s readings focus on persistence – persistence in prayer, persistence in seeking God’s help. But of equal importance, today’s readings call us to be people of faith. Prayer and faith are joined together in our calling as followers of Christ.
One of the major questions we often ask when we pray is: why does it appear that my prayers are not answered? Why do bad things continue to persist, even when I, myself, persist in my prayers? The question is not new. It goes back to the days of Job. You remember that story, too, don’t you?
● how Job, a righteous man who committed no sins against God, nevertheless, suffered the loss of his family, his possessions, his health.
● how his friends said he must have done something wrong to deserve God’s punishment.
● how in response to Job’s suffering, God, himself, appeared to Job: not to defend the actions of God, not to answer why the calamities befell Job but rather:
… to allow Job to experience the mystery of God’s very presence,
… to allow Job to experience his own faith and trust in God, and
… to remind Job that faith dissolves doubts; it does not necessarily diminish desolation.
Prayer allows us to experience God – not necessarily to be rewarded by God. Prayer leads to an understanding that God is with us: even in adversity, even as God was with the Israelites in their battles, even as God was with Job in his calamities.
In the letter Saint Paul wrote to Timothy, that we heard today, Paul said: “Be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.” He also said: “remain faithful to what you have learned and believed.”
This particular Sunday we are urged by pope John Paul II to not only remain faithful but also to go out in faith, to go out to others throughout the world. Long before September 11, this weekend was dedicated as “Mission Sunday:” a time to offer particular support for the “Society for the Propagation of Faith.” A time to recall that “propagation” means to plant the seeds, to cultivate and nurture what has been sown, and to reap the harvest.
We are, once more, asked to help others through our missionary work 1
● in the direct missionary work of our CGS youth who go to Arteaga.
● by those in our parish who minister at the Bridges Apartments.
● or those who give their time and efforts to the Interfaith Hospitality Network or to Northwest Assistance Ministries.
This weekend we are also encouraged to support worldwide missionary work through our contributions for today’s collection for the Society for the Propagation of Faith. Propagation of faith means working for justice, for the rights of others, rights that we take for granted for ourselves.
The widow in today’s gospel persisted in her cries for justice for herself. Moses persisted, with the help of Aaron and Hur, to be a sign of God’s presence with his chosen people. We too are called to be persistent in our prayers:
● we are called to acknowledge that God remains with us in times of adversity;
● we are called to be a sign of God’s presence in the world
The ancient Romans were led into battle by a sign bearing the letters SPQR. The Israelites were led into battle by Moses with arms outstretched. We, too, are to continue in our own personal and community struggles led by a man who also stretched out his arms, stretched them out on a wooden cross. A man who persisted beyond all others. A man who gave himself so that others might have eternal life with God. A man who becomes Eucharist – Eucharist to be shared with us as we share his love and our service with all peoples of the world.
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time; October 21, 2001 (Mission Sunday)
Ex 17:8-13; 2 Tim 3:14-4:2; Lk 18:1-8
- Arteaga is a town in Mexico to which our high school students are sent for a week of providing assistance. The Bridges Apartments is a place for local housing of low-income residents. The Interfaith Hospitality Network consists of local churches and synagogues who take in, on a weekly rotating basis, the homeless. Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM) affords low-cost items and financial help to the marginalized in the FM 1960 community