From our Old Testament reading, from the Book of Exodus: ‘Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out, fight with Amalek; 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 Amalek; 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, Amalek 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’.

This activity, of ‘holding up the hands of Moses’, can be likened to the ministry of intercession. To pray for someone in need is to support them in ways which they themselves may not even know, nor the intercessor likewise.

We are all called to this ministry. May we be faithful in taking it up, and may God bless you, and all for whom you pray, this day and always.