Gospel: Lk 18:1-8
JESUS told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’ ” The Lord said, “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? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
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In Jesus’ time, the Roman rulers appoint local “judges” for the people they have conquered. This practice, as Jesus notes in his parable, seems to have made some of these magistrates abusive and corrupt. Judges in Israel are expected to defend the widow and her orphaned children (cf Is 1:17; Ps 82:3-4). But since the judge of the parable neither fears God nor respects any human being, he refuses to give the widow what is her due (she is asking for justice, not charity). He has enough sense, though: he sees that if he wants to have peace and be freed from her nagging, he has to give her a just decision.
Even a wicked judge can be influenced by a persistent petitioner. God, who is a loving Father, listens to our prayers and acts on them in ways that are oftentimes unfathomable. But they are always for our good.
Who is God to you? A strict God? A God who must be “forced” to answer prayers? A wise and loving father? How has this notion of God affected your spiritual life?
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.