Walking with Jesus: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Sunday, October 19, 2025 

Exodus 17:8-13, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8


On occasion I surprise people who are very sincere in their Spiritual lives yet often doubt that they are on the right track and ask them a simple question that jolts them:

“Since you are an expert in prayer, how would you advise a person on the best way to pray?”

They immediately stop me and say, “Why do you say I’m an expert in prayer? I certainly am not — I feel like I’m on the bottom rung going up. I just pray the way I have been praying for years and keep trying other ways and new devotions, prayers, liturgical exercises. I would say I’m an expert on the number of ways I have looked into ... tried ... abandoned ... given up ... on prayer. I guess you could say I’m always trying. BUT ‘expert?’ No way!”

I did an interesting twist and looked into AI to see how one can be an expert in prayer. AI’s expertise is based on in its design and the information it is trained on; it’s NOT a form of spiritual or religious understanding.

What AI Can Do

1. AI can draw upon countless religious texts, theological books, writings, scholarly articles, cultural practices defining prayer.
2. AI can process complex information and how prayer is viewed in different religious groupings, churches and organizations.
3. AI can assist us humans in finding Scriptural quotes or helping people find the right words.

But: What AI Can't Do

1. AI cannot offer an personal experience; it has no personal beliefs — it cannot have a personal relationship with a higher power.
2. AI operates on data and logic, NOT faith or spiritual discernment. It cannot experience or understand the personal trust, love and connection essential in prayer.
3. AI is a tool and lacks a will of its own. It cannot make a conscious and sincere turning toward the divine.
4. AI cannot experience genuine feelings like gratitude, forgiveness or sorrow.

It’s interesting learning about AI while simultaneously realizing how prayer depends on me — that prayer is what I can do ... it’s my personal relationship with God. He loves me right now, just the way I am ... whether I'm messy, mad, mixed up, etc. How do I talk to Him right now? Try doing it without rosaries, novenas, prayer beads, Scripture — just words. This is an invitation. And when you finish, listen: It’s God’s turn. He loves you that much.

In Exodus we can be troubled by the militant character of the Israelites. Wars in those times are generally fought over land or resources which are essential if a people are to survive. Maintaining that their God is committed to them in a particular way, the Israelites believe their God wants them to do whatever is necessary for their survival because they are God’s special people. This explains their perspective: When Moses gets tired, Aaron and Hur give him a rock to sit on and hold up his hands. The account thus contrasts divine power (the staff) with human frailty (Moses’ tired arms) and highlights the value of support and cooperation for overcoming weaknesses. How do I get this kind of support for praying? I get it in a community setting along with the support of the loving teachers, angels and people in our churches.

Timothy is encouraged to adhere faithfully to the teaching he has received, and it’s good for us to consider the same. Scripture is “inspired by God,” which means that both God and human beings are true actors of Scripture. God works through human talents and limitations to communicate His love, presence and forgiveness. Paul emphasizes that Timothy constantly returns to the sources of his faith and how people believe and witness to God. His support is the people who came before; for us too, the people in our lives have shown struggle and turned to Scriptures for support and comfort. We see in real, everyday people the total and complete depth of God’s love. Do we pick up the Bible to read faith stories that support us — and tell of the God and His love that we need?

Jesus tells His disciples “… to pray always without becoming weary.” [Luke 18:1] Why? If we stop praying, we are likely to feel that God doesn’t care and so we give up. If we pray continually, we will never lose heart or our sight of God. To pray means to put oneself and one’s destiny in the hands of God. To pray means to rely on God’s strength and not our own. When we pray, another kind of power becomes available to us. And so we learn not to recite words but to open the heart — just sitting very quietly and opening the heart and letting God in.  

So I reflect on:

• I put myself in the shoes of the persistent widow: Experiencing her need for justice that she can't obtain, how do I feel? How can she keep on going? Where has she helped me, even in my reluctance to go to God in everything?
• In what ways does prayer lead me closer to what the dishonest judge names as fear of God and respect for fellow humans?

Sacred Space 2025 states:

“Fr. Henri Nouwen wrote, ‘Unless prayer is seen as essential, it is meaningless.’ WE must never give up on prayer, which is as necessary for our souls as air is for our bodies. Every prayer we make from the heart blesses us and changes us. It brings us closer to God who hears every prayer and will answer in His own way.”