Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Rarely do scripture readings give us the purpose of a parable in the way today’s gospel passage does. Luke says, “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary” (Lk 18:1). The “Parable of the Persistent Widow” is about persistent intercession. But it is also about faith and how the two come together in our prayer.
I think the readings are telling us three things:
God In Our Midst
Often, people think of the God of the Old Testament God as a remote, cold, and angry God, and that it is Jesus and the God of the New Testament who is more approachable, loving, and accessible. Readings like today’s first reading tell us a different story. It tells us that even in the Old Testament, God was not somewhere up there remotely interested in human affairs. Today’s reading tells us that while Moses was on the top of the mountain his hands raised up in prayer and intercession, God was with the people in the battlefield, helping them and leading them to victory. And this is the “good news” for us today. God is in our midst.
However, the readings are not telling us that because God is with us that life will be smooth sailing. Nowhere does scripture tell us that there will not be battles, difficulties, and complexities in our life. Rather, the message is that in the midst of our struggles God does not abandon us. We can find God in the very midst of our struggles. In fact, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14).
Meanwhile, there is a gesture that is very useful as we go through life – hands lifted up in prayer. There is one favor we do for God and for ourselves - that with hands lifted up in prayer, we invite God into the very midst of our life. Day in and day out, like Moses, we must invite God not only to fight our battles but simply to be an inalienable part of our daily existence. We must invite God to be our every breath.
God is Good
God is good and gives us good things. The gospel reading can be a very misunderstood passage. It can be interpreted to mean that God is like the mean judge who made the poor widow come to him numerous times before he would rule in her favor, and that the judge eventually ruled in her favor not because he cared about her but simply because he wanted her to stop bothering him. The point of the parable is the very opposite. As Jesus says “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily” (Lk 18:6-7). Jesus is telling us that God is good, and that God is eager to give us good things. And if you are ever inclined to wonder why God did not let you win a lottery or did not heal your loved one or did not get you the job you wanted, or why your marriage ended in a divorce, or why an adversity came your way, just look back at life to find all the good things that have come your way. Life and any love that came our way, our family and those dear to us, the faith we have and the strength that comes from it, those that care about us now and those we love and care about are all gifts of a good God. Most of all, the gift of Jesus, the Sacraments, and the promise of eternal salvation - all these good things come from a God who is good. Yes, perhaps there are many things that we still wish could be ours, but it is my sense that we have more things to be grateful for than things to complain about.
The Power of Self-Worth
Confidence in God’s goodness also means having self-worth. I am very intrigued by the persistent widow in today’s gospel. A widow in Jesus’ time did not have too many things going in her favor. And yet, I am amazed not only at her persistence but also at her self-confidence. She considers herself worth being heard.
Perhaps the lesson we learn from her is that, on the one hand, prayer, faith, intercession about how we relate to God. On the other hand, they are about how we relate with ourselves. Every prayer originates in the human heart. A heart that does not believe in itself does not have the confidence the persistent widow had.
The more we think of ourselves as being created by God, the more we think of ourselves as being loved and redeemed by God, the more we think of ourselves as being chosen and sent forth by God, the more confidence and persistence we will have in God’s presence. The more we think of ourselves as created, loved, and redeemed by God, the more prayer, faith, and intercession will mean for us.
Prayer without faith is meaningless, faith without prayer becomes stagnant, intercession without persistence lacks confidence, and all these without self-worth is powerless. Let us offer this Mass knowing that our good God is in our midst. Let us also offer it with the confidence of being sons and daughters of God. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph