Saturday in the 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, November 18, 2023

Luke 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?”

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.”  Most of the Lord’s parables describe some aspect of the Kingdom of God, and about the judgment of the wicked.  Here, he tells us how to pray.  This is most touching because it is not simply about obeying commandments and giving up everything for the Kingdom: it is about speaking to our Heavenly Father.  And, while nearly all of the Lord’s parables contain a bizarre element and end without a real conclusion, this parable features a bit of comedy.  First of all, St. Luke tells us that the Lord wanted to stress the “necessity them to pray always without becoming weary.”  These last few words can also be translated as “and not become faint.”  We learn here that the Lord considers it necessary for us to “pray always”.  We can pray always by speaking to our Lord throughout the day even when we are working.  We may not be able to pray continuously this way, but this does constitute praying “always”.  We can also pray at set times during the day when we are free.  We can offer the day to God in the morning and so our work itself becomes prayer.  Or we can pray the Breviary (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours).  The Lord, of course, knows that we cannot pray uninterruptedly like the angels and Saints in heaven.  Even praying “always” can be difficult, and so he addresses this matter, showing that it is worth the effort.  He particularly speaks here in his parable of the prayer of intercession, in which we ask something for ourselves or for others.

First, he introduces the character of the judge: “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.”  This is an all-too-familiar character throughout history.  This man is not so much interested in God’s law or human law as in enforcing his will on society.  He is very self-important, and there is barely any space in his courtroom for anyone but himself.  But here comes this woman, a widow who sees herself as wronged and will have justice or else.  The translation here softens the situation.  The Douay Rheims provides a more accurate account of what the widow says to the judge: “Avenge me of my adversary.”  The judge, however, tries to ignore her case.  To him, it is trivial.  But it is of grest moment to the widow.  Finally, she wears down the judge, something no one else has been able to do.  He thinks to himself one day: “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.”  That is, her hectoring has gotten to him.  She is there in his court first thing in the morning, she interrupts his other cases, she follows him around after the hearings are over.  He begins to fear for his health and safety.  He determined to rule in her favor whatever the merits of her case.

The parable ends there, but the Lord works through it with his disciples: “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?” If the unjust judge gives judgment for the woman he despises, how much more will the just God “secure the rights” of those whom he cherishes?  Now, the Lord asks, “Will he be slow to answer them?”    and then answers: “I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.”  That is to say, he will answer the prayer when it is most efficacious to do so.  There will be no arbitrary delays, no neglect.  Thus, the Lord teaches us not to give up — “to grow weary” — in our prayers because we can count on his answering them.  But why does God have us praying until we are nearly tired out from it?  If he is going to answer a prayer it would seem sufficient for the prayer to be offered only once.  He does this to reinforce in us our utter dependence on him for all that we have and all that we need.  He does this so that we realize beyond all doubt that we receive what we receive comes from him and not from some outside efforts of our own.

The reading here ends with the Lord commenting, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  He is asking the Jews present before him whether they will have faith when the Son of Man comes, for he has come; and whether any faithful people will remain at the time he comes for judgment.  In the first instance, the Son of Man came and found faith here and there, but mostly not.  Even the people in the cities where he performed so many of his miracles were lacking in faith: “He began to upbraid the cities wherein were done the most of his miracles, for that they had not done penance” (Matthew 11, 20).  The Lord infers that when he returns he will find the same general lack of faith, though also pockets of faithfulness. In various commentaries on the Book of Revelation, the opinion is that not many people at the end of the world will have faith, but those who do will have very great faith.  Persecution and tribulation, such as will take place then, either makes faith stronger or crushes it completely., while widespread indifference to the Lord Jesus will prevail through the triumph of materialism.  If we persevere in prayer, we will persevere in faith.  And in that case, the words of St. James will apply to us: “Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for, when he has been proved, he shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to them that love him” (James 1, 12).