Luke 18: 1-8
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101925.cfm
Let us pray:
Almighty ever-living God,
grant that we may always conform our will to yours
and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
(Collect for Mass)
Persistence is an admirable virtue. How do we not stand in awe at a trained, Olympic level athlete. Or a vocalist who sings with beauty and power. Or an artist who through discipline and training produces a work of art that remains as impressive as the day it was first seen? Or someone with a serious health condition who seems to overcome adversity by the sheer force of their will. Maybe we admire them and wish we could have that level of determination ourselves. How much more the tenacious force of one who approaches God in prayer.
This Sunday we hear about prayer and about prayers of
petition and the determined persistence that is so essential. While there are
many styles of prayer such as liturgical, contemplative, devotional, private
and public, a rich treasure given to us in our Catholic faith, it seems no
style of prayer is more familiar to Christians than prayers of petition or
intercession.
When we go to pray it is far more common to ask for
something or to ask on behalf of someone else.
We pray for health, our children, our sick relatives, for healing, for a
good job, for our children who no longer attend Mass, for good weather, for
safe travel, etc. I’m sure this all
sounds familiar. But, when you think
about it, that’s an awful lot of “Give me what I want, or think is good for me.”
So, if ever Jesus told a parable with a smile on his
face our familiar Gospel story this Sunday from Luke, I think would have been
it. Picture the scene he paints. An uncaring judge sits arrogantly at his
bench and openly admits his shamelessness towards God and people: “. . .
neither feared God nor respected any human being.” There isn’t much good about
someone like that.
And persistently at his bench and entering his
courtroom repeatedly is a widow, dressed in dark shabby clothes but undeterred
in her demands for justice: “Render a just decision for me against my
adversary,” she demands with bold courage.
Now that’s chutzpah! She had lost
her husband and his property was mishandled, though it belonged to her: she is
determined to get her rights. Apparently, however, the widow’s
pleading is ignored, and she has no money to offer the judge, yet she persists
determinedly.
The judge she stands before is shameless in his
attitude, is overcome by her persistence in what he must have imagined was seen
as an obnoxious woman who threatens to inflict physical harm on him. He says: “I shall deliver a just decision for
her lest she finally come and strike me.” - Before she punches me in the eye if
I don’t give in to her demands. You can
see Jesus smile at thought of the scene he describes and likely his audience as
well as they considered the woman who threatened the judge.
So, to once and for all remove her from his courtroom,
despite his cold heart, the judge grants justice to the widow. Due to her
unrelenting plea, prayer we may say, he granted her constant request.
As odd as this story seems, it holds a valuable lesson
for us about how we are to pray.
Remember, Jesus told this parable to his disciples: “. . . about the
necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” If the crooked judge
gave the woman her right due, would not God, who is far more compassionate and
interested than the judge, give more and more frequently what his children ask
of him? As Jesus finishes, he adds a twist: “Pay attention to what the dishonest
judge says. Will not God then secure the
rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?” If such a corrupt
judge grants a request, however outlandish the widow acted, wouldn’t a
benevolent God answer the prayers of those who ask him?
We must pray with trust and persistence that God
indeed cares for us, unlike the uncaring judge, and will indeed bestow good
things, justice, upon us. Faith means
that we must be undeterred in constantly going to the right source; to the one
who looks upon us with mercy and love, rather than seek for our true needs
elsewhere.
The judge was no friend of the woman, that’s for sure,
and she knew that. Yet, she consistently
badgered him and finally wore him down with her unfailing desire to receive
what is right and good.
Our first reading from Exodus offers a similar scene
of persistence, that of Moses at prayer as he stands watching the battle
between Amalek and Israel. Moses stands
at the top of the hill as Joshua engages the enemy in battle. With hands constantly raised in prayer to
God, Israel would win. The battle lasted
all day, Moses’ arms grew tired, so Aaron (his brother) and Hur prop his arms
on two rocks so they would remain raised in constant prayer – Israel won the
battle and justice was won. Like the
widow, he never gives up, he pleads persistently to God for what was good and
right.
What does the posture of Moses teach us about
prayer? He knew who God was, so he
raised his hands wide and tall in a kind of reaching out. The traditional “orans” position before God
in prayer, as you see the priest who stands at the altar with his arms raised
as a prayerful gesture lifting the prayers of the Mass and the people to God.
What does the posture of the widow tell us about
prayer? That before God we are bent over
and pleading, like a poor beggar who knows that she was powerless before the
judge but that he held the power that could change her life. So, she persists with courage and faith
knowing that despite his uncaring attitude, she would eventually find relief.
In other words, God is big, wide and open and we are
small and always needy. If we can see
ourselves and God in that light when we pray, we have a prayer that is always
heard. Even when the odds seem to be starkly against us, even in the face of
great injustice and drifting with no clear answers, we can learn to be like the
widow in our prayer. And the lesson is learned not by God but by us. The attitude of persistence reminds us to
rely more completely upon God and surrender our own ego centric views.
Yet God is not uninformed about our lives. Our
persistent prayer is a response to a God of love who urges us in his
direction. Through prayer, and
particularly a constant rhythm of a spiritual life, we are moved and changed as
our lives point more to God and less to the things of this world for
satisfaction. As St. Agustine teaches, God does not always answer our prayers
immediately but through time and our persistence, he expands our heart to
receive more and to learn greater trust in him.
As we gather for our Eucharist, let’s take note of how
we pray. Do I beg before God in humility
with a grateful heart for all he has given us, primarily his own Son? Let’s believe that if we are upset by what
seems to be a ship drifting with no port to dock, by our prayer and faith we
can bring that ship safely in. All we have is gift given to us; may God teach
us through our prayer that at the heart of it all is a deeper trust in the One
who is the source of all things.
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