October 20, 2013

Bulletin October 20, 2013
29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C
Exodus 17: 8-13; 2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:2; Luke 18:1-8
I do not know when God will respond to my prayers, my pleas, my urgent petitions, my normal and continual prayers so I must continue forever, if it takes that long. So why am I upset that God doesn’t answer me immediately? Jesus responded by giving this parable to His disciples, those who already believed in Him and He told them to “pray always without becoming weary.”
It is interesting that Luke tells the point of the parable before he tells the parable. He does this not to give the story away but to reiterate the importance of the message. The story brings out what can be called the irresistible force meeting the immovable object and who will win...the bottom line is that God does hear me, loves me and constantly is helping me, but am I listening and am I seeing what God is doing for me? And this is true of every single person.
Now the people listening to Jesus were mostly ‘country folk’...farmers, fishermen and the like. They knew the stories about cities. They are “impersonal places where hard and cynical people take advantage of the weak.” So enters the story of the judge who doesn’t care about people...would he care about me...absolutely not, no matter what my plight was. It seems that God isn’t in his life since he “doesn’t fear God” nor does he respect people for their accomplishments, hard work or their sufferings. He cares about himself and ‘he is the boss.’ He certainly is the immovable object and it certainly seems that he prides himself in this. No one can do anything to change his mind. Now enters the irresistible force, this poor widow who was a member of one of the most oppressed classes in Israelite society. She needs help and it is urgent. No member of her family is there to help; her friends have no means to help and she is reduced to begging at best. Help! She does have one thing in her favor and that is she is asking for justice; she is in the right and the judge certainly would be the one to help her. But her odds are not good. Incidentally the Hebrew word for widow means ‘one who has no voice.’ Yet that’s all she has and she keeps on coming. She is not shy nor can she be put off.
John Shea in Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers says this, “The justice that should be given because he is a judge is only given because the widow is relentless. However, more than sheer nagging may be at work. Scholars say ‘wear me out’ is literally translated, ‘give me a black eye,’ ‘Giving a black eye’ is an image for tarnishing a reputation. A judge is supposed to give justice and he does not want to be known for not giving justice. This woman’s persistence will show him up as an unjust judge. He does not want this. He wants the pretense of justice on the outside even though he is not committed to justice on the inside. He wants to be known as just. This hypocrisy is a key piece of information.”
Now Jesus steps in and compares God not to the ‘judge’ who does not want to listen to the ‘just’ concerns of the widow making him an “dishonest judge” but to the God of love and care and concern. Jesus describes God “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.” God brings the justice and love and compassion that the world does not give. So the question is why does it seem that God sometimes takes such a long time? And Jesus asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” So He wants me to check out my faith in God: how deep is my faith...does my faith depend on ‘speed’...does my faith depend on ‘having it my way’...does my faith mean ‘me, me, and me’ or is it about ‘not my way but God’s way’?
Msgr. Eugene Lauer, my teacher at Notre Dame Sabbatical gives an interesting approach to this by way of a riddle: “At what point does every prayer go unanswered?” I had to really think about this. The fact is that every prayer goes unanswered when I decide to stop praying. If I decided that I gave God enough time and evidentially He doesn’t care or is not concerned about me and my concern, then ‘forget it’. But if I continue to pray then my prayers will never go unanswered. The bigger question is: why do I give up? Do I feel that God doesn’t care? Do I feel that He is punishing me because I’m not the person I should be? Does He play favorites and I’m certainly not one? Msgr. Lauer concludes in this way, “In a sophisticated modern society there is a tendency to call people who never give up, who keep on struggling even when there seems to be no reasonable hope of success, fools. ‘Be realistic. Why waste your time and energy that way?’ Many fine people in the racial justice movement, the women’s movement, the Third World liberation movement, seem to be ‘foolish’ in this way. Perhaps they are fools, ‘fools for the sake of the kingdom of God.’ And they know the answer to the riddle.”
I say it is about faith and I ask how deep my faith is. I look at the struggles I had just to get where I am today...God did this...it is His grace and love. So many, many people have inspired me because they continued and each ‘tough step’ made their commitment and its dream idyllic and an inspiration. So it is with our ‘journey of faith’, God tests us to purify us and bring us to the ‘end of our journey’...heaven. And I need these tests to be stronger and more faith filled and definitely more loving. Looking at it in this way, persistence in prayer is the only way, or the way to realize God’s closeness and love. So I reflect on:

• What areas of injustice do I see in the world...in my world? Am I doing anything about it with the gifts I have been given?
  
• Do I pray that God’s justice, meaning the grace to be in right relationship with God, others, oneself, and my world, more a part of my prayer life?
  
• How do I discern what needs I should take to God in prayer, and which needs are unhealthy or selfish or not good for me?
  
• Do I continually reflect on my needs and which of these are really important and bring them to God?
  

Sacred Space 2013 asks me “As I pray, listen for the deeper note that may underlie what I say and hear how God responds to me. Jesus tells the parable so we may not lose heart. I listen for the voice of Jesus.” speaking to me, urging me to persist.”