Many Forms of Priesthood

A Reflection on the First Reading for October 16th, 2022:
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Exodus
17.8-13

Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Whenever Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. 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 sun set. 

And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.

Sometimes, as a Sister, a person will ask me to bless something for them – a Rosary, or a medal, or even their homes. Whether I can do this or not falls into something of a grey area that occasionally irks me. Technically, if I’m commissioned to do so by a parish, then I (or any lay person) can perform home blessings or can bless objects; we just do it a little differently than priests do. And priests and deacons can be so busy that these kinds of things sometimes just never make it into their schedule. But as a general rule, if there’s a priest or deacon available to do this, then I direct people to go and ask them instead. 

I’ve struggled with this idea. Blessings are not magic. Why should it matter if I say the words or that priest does? Is God less likely to answer my prayers than those of an ordained minister? This reading from Exodus speaks to me of this same question. Do we suppose that Aaron and Hur and Joshua and all the people of Israel were not also praying for victory in this struggle? There was nothing particularly special about Moses’ hands that should have made it possible for his lifting them up to gain the victory for the Israelites. Yet that is what happened; God chose to work through Moses. The same thing happens when a priest or deacon prays a blessing on a person – God chooses them to be the means by which His graces come to us. It’s another one of the mysteries of our faith that has no clear rhyme or reason. It just is. 

At the same time, when I look more closely at the reading, I am reminded that Moses is not the only one involved in this battle. Joshua and his army are still the ones doing the fighting. Aaron and Hur are needed to hold up Moses’ arms. God chose to work through Moses’ actions, but He was also working in the actions of all the people around him. In the same vein, the priest’s blessing goes only so far in and of itself. It needs to be met by action and faith in the people he is blessing. And so often our priests and deacons also need us to help them keep their arms lifted when they grow tired. These actions are part of our own participation in the priesthood of the baptized.




​Sr. Gemma​

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