29th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C): Exodus 17:8-13
Have you ever read a passage from the Scriptures and wondered what relevance it could have to your life today?
If so, your challenge is hardly new or unique. Many people will come across stories from the Scriptures that seem far removed from their lives, or that seem (at first glance) to teach or promote values that are not in harmony with the fullness of truth that Christ has revealed to us.
One good example is our first reading for this Sunday which is taken from the Book of Exodus. The Israelites, while en route to the Promised Land, are attacked by a tribe called the Amalekites. Joshua and a band of picked Israelite warriors engage the Amalekites in battle, while Moses prays on a hilltop. Joshua and his warriors win the battle, and the Israelite journey continues.
We might be tempted to read this as simply a historical account of an event that happened during the Exodus journey. If we do this, however, the account is reduced to a piece of historical trivia, the kind of thing students might need to learn for a history test. This isn’t enough. We believe that the Book of Exodus, like all of the Old and New Testaments, is and remains the word of God. If our passage is also God’s word, it must have something to tell us beyond the actual facts of what happened that day, thousands of years ago. There must be a spiritual meaning to the text, as well as a literal meaning. There must be something there for us, as well.
There is. Catholic tradition has always held that there is a spiritual as well as a literal meaning to every Scripture passage. One name for this spiritual meaning is allegory.
Allegory is defined in the dictionary as follows: The expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence.
Allegory was – and remains – commonly used in literature, movies and on stage. The Pilgrim’s Progress, with its main character – named Christian – meeting other characters who are given the names of various virtues and vices, is an obvious allegory. Other allegories are more subtle. In the Narnia stories, Aslan, who dies and rises to life again, represents Christ. In The Lord of the Rings, the One Ring represents the most seductive and powerful temptations we face, Galadriel represents the Blessed Virgin, Frodo represents Christ the Priest, Gandalf Christ the Prophet, and Aragorn Christ the King. (Note – this is clearer in the book than in the movie trilogy.) Some names in the Harry Potter books are subtle references to Catholic theology and tradition. We can look at how various comic book superheroes, like Superman, Batman, and the Avengers, have been portrayed over the last few decades for hints at the changes in our society’s values during this time. Allegory is everywhere.
Already in the New Testament, we see some Old Testament stories explained as allegories. Saint Paul, for example, speaks of the story of Sarah and Hagar as an allegory in his letter to the Galatians. The early Church Fathers often included allegory in how they interpreted Biblical passages. Preachers and teachers today still use allegory, sometimes without realizing it, because it has proven to be a helpful tool in finding the spiritual meaning of Biblical texts and in applying them to contemporary life.
Note that we do not apply allegory to the Scriptures willy-nilly. The idea is that people who have a basic familiarity with the Bible and with Catholic Tradition, and who seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will be led to see how some of the Scriptural dots connect with one another and with contemporary Catholic life. A good allegorical interpretation is always the fruit of prayer and reflection of a faithful, prayerful Christian. It is never merely wishful thinking.
How can the use of allegory help us in understanding our first reading?
Many of you are familiar with Bishop Robert Barron, who has given us the book and video series Catholicism, among other things. Mining the riches of Catholic Biblical interpretation, Bishop Barron offers us an allegorical interpretation of our passage that can speak powerfully to us today.
Bishop Barron explains our passage as being about the Church and its mission. The Amalekites represent all the challenges that the Church faces in its mission in the world and all the evils that oppose the Church and that afflict humanity. Joshua and his warriors represent those Catholics whose vocation is to minister in the world: in parishes, in hospitals, in prisons, in homes, in cities and villages, and many other places. Joshua and his men are all Catholics who are out there where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. Moses represents those Catholics who are called to lived of prayer: contemplatives and hermits, people in community or alone, who help sustain the whole Church by their devotion to prayer. Aaron and Hur, who support the arms of Moses, are those Catholics whose generosity and support enable those who are called to a life of prayer to maintain this life for the sake of the whole Church.
In Bishop Barron’s allegorical reading of our passage, we see that the Church’s mission can only succeed if everyone is faithful to their own vocation or role. The Church obviously needs people “on the ground”, so to speak, who are out there in the world bringing the love and healing of Christ directly to people everywhere. But they will not make any progress unless there are also people who devote themselves to constant prayer for the Church, and people who support our prayers by their generosity and encouragement. All are needed. All are useful. All are essential.
Pope Benedict XVI, in a homily given in Naples in 2007, had this to say about our reading:
While Joshua and his men were tackling their adversaries on the battlefield, Moses was standing on the hilltop, his hands uplifted in the position of a person praying. These raised hands of the great leader guaranteed Israel’s victory. God was with his people; he wanted them to win but made Moses’ uplifted hands the condition for his intervention.
It seems incredible, but that is how it is: God needs the raised hands of his servant! Moses’ raised arms are reminiscent of the arms of Jesus on the Cross: the outspread, nailed arms with which the Redeemer won the crucial battle against the infernal enemy. His fight, his arms raised to the Father and wide open for the world, ask for other arms, other hearts that continue to offer themselves with his same love until the end of the world.
Pope Benedict makes three important points for our prayer and reflection.
First of all, God made Moses’ uplifted hands the condition for His intervention. Without the commitment of those devoted to prayer in our Church, God will not grant success to the Church’s efforts overall. God wills that His graces come into His Church through those who devote their lives to prayer in His name. God blesses His Church in other ways, it is true. But He does not want His Church to neglect the contribution of those who serve the Church’s mission through prayer – like St. Thérèse of Lisieux and so, so many others.
Secondly, Moses’ raised arms are reminiscent of the arms of Jesus on the Cross. Through the pray-ers in the Church, the Lord will pour into His Church many great blessings, all of which are the fruits of His great victory won for us on the Cross. Moreover, people in active ministry, who see our pray-ers devote themselves to the contemplative life and become signs of Christ on the Cross, will draw encouragement from this witness as yet another sign that the Lord is indeed with them. This encouragement will make their own struggles in the world bear more fruit.
Thirdly, Christ’s arms, raised to the Father, ask for other arms, other hearts that continue to offer themselves with His same love until the end of the world. In other words, any Catholic community that encourages and supports every one of its genuine vocations will see a flourishing of all vocations. Likewise, any Catholic community that refuses to encourage or accept some of its genuine vocations, including its contemplative ones, can expect a scarcity of all of its vocations. To reject any of the Lord’s gifts is to reject the Lord Himself. To accept every one of the Lord’s gifts is to truly welcome the Lord Himself.
If we ponder our reading, then, through the eyes of Catholic faith, with this allegory as our guide, we can see how it can both encourage and challenge us as a Catholic community today. Do we welcome and encourage all of God’s gifts to us? Do we support every vocation? Do we see even in the “little ones”, who have little to offer in the world’s eyes, great and precious gifts from the Lord Himself? Recall His words: “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers or sisters, you do unto Me”.
This should give us all ample food for reflection and prayer.