Simply Jessie

First Reading: Exodus 17:8-13

Then came Am'alek and fought with Israel at Reph'idim. And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out, fight with Am'alek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Am'alek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Am'alek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua mowed down Am'alek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Psalm: Psalm 121:1-8

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14 -- 4:2

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Gospel:Luke 18:1-8

And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, `Vindicate me against my adversary.' For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, `Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Reflection
by Gharri Tulabut

One friend at a time. This has been my practice in inviting friends to join The Angeles Feast (our prayer meeting). Yes, I often do Facebook invitations and, yes, there were people that joined us because of those invitations but I still like focusing on one person at a time. Well, sometimes up to 3 or even 5. But what I mean is, I always want to make it more personal and invite those that I worked with, whom I have an idea what their issues are all about, and those I really want to help.

Let’s call one of them, Jessica.

I was able to make her attend once last year. That did not happen for a second time because of the many issues she had at work. Often she confides in me. And because I had an idea what her issues are, I wanted to help her. And I think joining the Yuppies Group in our community would really help her with her issues at work on top of the personal advice she gets from me. That is why I was persistent in inviting her.

Every Saturday morning, I would always remind her, either through text message or Facebook.  Every Saturday.

But no, there was no Jessie in our weekly prayer meeting.

One Saturday, I told myself not to invite her this time (to save my 1 peso cellphone load for a while, hehe). No, I am not planning to quit just yet. I will just step back and probably change strategy.

I did not wake up early that Saturday. But upon waking up at noon guess who texted me.

Yup, it was Jessie.

And guess what the text was all about.

She’s asking me what time The Feast was?

She’s attending. Hurray!

And that afternoon we were all very happy in The Feast together with some of Jessie’s (and my former) officemates.

…But without Jessie.

She’s still a no-show.

But I was not mad at her. I did not even confront her to ask why she did not suit up. I still saw her at Mass. And we talked about other things.

I remember what Pope Francis said, “We just have to be a friend and Christ will do the rest.” So this remains my strategy in “disciple-ing”.

One other thing that keeps my communication line open with Jessie busy is my passion with financial investments. Last Tuesday, I received an unexpected text from her. This time she’s telling me that she is now ready to invest in the Mutual Funds I am representing.

Well, I do my regular talks on investments right after The Feast, so I told her, let’s meet at The Feast and discuss afterwards. 

She was not promising but she said she might attend this coming Saturday.

That Saturday is Oct 19. Did she finally attend?

As of this writing, I still don’t know.

But one thing I know, I will keep my persistence in inviting her and in praying that she finally say yes. I am that determined to help her… in her financial life, and of course, in her spiritual life.

And Jessie is just an example of many similar situations I handle.

Prayer

Father God, touch Jessie and the many like her who are still confused, to finally see the beauty of having a community both to receive blessings and to bless others. Grant me always the patience and persistence in inviting and spreading your good news. Amen!