TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
16 OCTOBER 2022
Jesus
has a way of getting our attention. In
telling this parable, he contrasts two interesting characters to make a
point. The dishonest judge is a member
of the elite. As a judge, he should have
had concern for those who are at the bottom of society. This widow is at the bottom and among the
most vulnerable, because she has no one to support her. But the judge has no concern for her, because
he neither fears God nor respects any human being.
But the
widow is persistent and relentless in pestering the judge for justice. He finally renders a just judgment, not
because he cares about her cause, but because she wears him down, torments him,
and even browbeats him. The original
hearers of the parable must have smiled when Jesus says that the judge fears
that this helpless widow will give him a black eye!
Jesus uses
this parable to give us an important lesson about praying. He has just taught the disciples how to pray,
giving them the Lord’s Prayer. He has
instructed them to pray for the coming of the kingdom. In this parable, he is saying that if a
dishonest judge can give a just judgment, how much more will the Father who
loves us and wants the best for us give us what we need. As he faces the reality of the cross, Jesus tells
his followers not to get discouraged. Our
prayer opens our eyes to God’s kingdom, already in our midst. We must continue to pray, even to the time
when he will come again in glory and usher in the fullness of God’s kingdom.
When we do
not see the results of our persistent prayer, we can think that the Father is
not listening. We can be tempted to think
that we can win over the Father to our point of view by continually bugging him
in prayer and trying to make deals with him.
But, that is not the point of persistent prayer. Persistent prayer opens our hearts to the
loving care of the Father and the gift of his only Son, whose prayer in the
Garden of Gethsemane will not be granted.
Jesus will leave the garden to face the horror of his shameful
death. However, he will be raised from
the dead and complete the Paschal Mystery for himself and for us. That Paschal Mystery informs and directs our
persistent prayer. The Father will not
abandon us on our crosses, any more than he did not abandon his Son on his
cross.
There is
another way of perceiving the Paschal Mystery in this parable. Could it be that we are the dishonest
judge? Could it be that we get so caught
up in our pursuit of our desires for wealth and honor and privilege that we no
longer fear God? Could it be that we can
become so obsessed with our own needs and concerns that we ignore the needs of
other human beings? If that is true, the
widow represents God, much like the woman in a previous parable resembles
God. She swept her house until she found
the lost coin and invited her neighbors to celebrate her victory. Like the vulnerable and defenseless widow,
Jesus Christ took on our human nature and emptied himself of the riches of
divinity. He shows us the paradox of the
Paschal Mystery. In the Paschal Mystery,
he provides strength in weakness and life through death. Like the widow, he relentlessly pursues us to
turn our attention away from ourselves and our narrow concerns to recognize his
kingdom already in our midst.
We have
structured this “Year of Encounter” in such a way to provide a variety of new
efforts to encounter the Lord in our daily lives, especially in the Sacramental
life of the Church. In encountering the
Lord, we open our eyes to the many ways we encounter him in each other, especially
in the needy, the vulnerable, and those pushed to the edges of our
society. This encounter will occur when
we pray persistently and faithfully, even when we do not see an apparent answer
to our prayers. In our persistent
prayer, we increase our trust in God’s unconditional love. We must make sure that the Lord finds faith
when he comes again.
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