Memorial of Saint Josaphat, bishop and martyr
In today’s gospel, Jesus gives us a rather odd parable to illustrate the necessity that his disciples pray constantly. There are two important aspects of it, however, that perhaps we might miss on a first read—both are common features of Jesus’ parables in general and both help us to understand the story a bit better.
First, the only thing we know about this judge is that he “neither feared God nor respected any human being” (Lk 18: 2). “Fear of the Lord,” understood as a deep respect for God’s power and laws, was highly cherished among the Jewish people of whom Jesus and his disciples were a part. Not only was it regarded as an important virtue to hold, further “fear of the Lord” was the beginning of a holy life oriented toward the well being of other people. So it’s no surprise that because the judge doesn’t fear the Lord that he doesn’t act kindly toward his fellow human beings. Like many of Jesus’ parables, the force of the point he wants to make rests upon the sharp contrast between this judge and God, in whose figurative place he stands. The logic goes something like this: if even this degenerate will pay attention to a persistent widow, how much more will God, who is the source of all goodness, do for those who are persistent! Persistence is important even with God, who responds “speedily” (Lk 18:8), because it also assures that we remain not too far from God’s ear and that cannot be a bad thing!
Moreover, being persistent in prayer cannot but teach us to be persistent in our Christian lives across the board. St. Josaphat, whose feast we celebrate today, was a bishop in the Eastern Church (in present-day Russia) in the early 17th century. Before he became bishop, Josaphat was regarded a deeply prayerful monk. Having been split since the 11th century, relations between the East and the West were still strained. Early on, Josaphat worked for the reunion between the churches, but he met great opposition among Eastern priests and had little support from Western bishops of Poland. Stuck between these two parties, Josaphat persevered in the cause of reunion all the way to his martyr’s death in the strife. Clearly, Josaphat’s deep, persistent prayer life had prepared him for this difficult cause.
This brings me to the second aspect of the parable that may go unnoticed. The last line of the gospel reading seems to come from nowhere, to be disconnected from the entire story preceding it. I would like to suggest, however, that it is important for understanding the whole thing. By asking the question, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk 18:8) after assuring the disciples that God will respond with haste to those who are dedicated to Him, Jesus shows that he is concerned primarily about the continuing faith of the disciples when He is no longer with them. It is herein that persistent prayer has deep value: it maintains faith even in trying times.
Let us spend a few extra minutes today in prayer, spending a bit more time tugging at God’s ear so that we might be closer to Him and therefore stronger in faith.
St. Josaphat pray for us!
- Tim Gabrielli