Homily for 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2016
Exodus 17:8-13, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 and Luke 18:1-8
Introduction
Today's gospel story is one of those rare
occasions when Jesus not only tells a parable, but he also clearly states its
meaning. It is like giving someone a crossword puzzle already filled, or a test
with the answers side by side or a riddle with the key to it.
To introduce the parable of the widow and
the unjust judge, Luke says: "Jesus
told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always
without becoming weary." In
other words, the message of this parable is about prayer and persistence in
prayer.
Scripture and Theology
But despite the prior announcement of its
meaning, this parable presents a small problem.
It appears that Jesus is comparing or even equating God to the unjust
judge, a corrupt, merciless, irreligious man, one who grants justice to the
widow only out of sheer exhaustion from her persistence. In his own words, the judge says: "I shall deliver a just decision for her lest
she finally come and strike me.” Is
that the kind of God that Jesus Christ is revealing to us?
And yet if we reflect further on this
parable, we realize that Jesus is NOT equating God to this unjust judge; he is
contrasting him against the judge. Any
woman in the audience, on hearing this parable, would have understood immediately
the desperation of the widow, in the unjust judicial system of the time. More importantly, they would have understood the
persistence needed to receive any justice.
The point of Jesus therefore is this: if a totally corrupt person who
cares neither for God nor man can be made to yield to the pestering of a
totally defenceless widow, a penniless widow with no money to offer a bribe,
how much more will a loving and caring God take care of his children?
Just in case men might feel left out, seven
chapters earlier in chapter 11 of Luke's gospel, Jesus had made the same point in
another parable geared to men. You might
remember the parable about the friend who knocks at the door at midnight,
asking for bread for an unexpected guest from a reluctant, sleepy neighbour (Lk.
11:5-8). In that case too, Jesus says
"I tell you, if he does not get up
to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him
whatever he needs because of his persistence." In this case too Jesus contrasts the
behaviour of God against the behaviour of this friend, who acts not out of
friendship but merely to stop his friend from nagging him.
And Jesus concluded that parable by comparing
God to a decent, caring parent (Lk. 11:9-13). Would such a parent give a child
a snake when he asked for a fish? Would
a parent give a scorpion to a child who asked for an egg? If such parents who
are only weak and wicked human beings give their children what they need, how
much more will a loving God see to the needs of his children?
And so in all three examples, the unjust
judge, the reluctant friend or even the caring parent, are given as examples
not of what God does, but as poor imitations of the great things that God can
actually do, when we pray to him.
Christian Life
That is why prayer is an integral part of
the Christian life.
1. We pray together as a parish
community every Sunday and on many other occasions.
2. We also pray together in small
groups like the Legion of Mary, the "Come Lord Jesus" group and other
devotional groups.
3. But we must also pray
privately, lifting up our minds and hearts, our thoughts and feelings to God.
As the saying goes, "the family that
prays together stays together." This
is the family that prays at meals, or prays the rosary or prays morning prayer
or night prayer. We each must pray and
we must pray constantly.
The disciples of Jesus were very much aware
of this need and of their unworthiness that they ask the Lord: "Lord,
teach us to pray, just as John the Baptist taught his disciples." The Lord responded to their request and
taught them a model prayer, what we know as the Lord's prayer. This prayer models for us all prayer, so that
we must pray not only for what we want, but what God wants, like "May his
will be done, may his kingdom come."
It is also a prayer that stakes our requests on our own willingness to grant
others the same favours we ask, like when we ask God to forgive us our sins as
we forgive those who sin against us.
Perhaps some of us today want to ask Jesus:
"Jesus, You have told us to pray and to pray constantly, but we do not
know how to pray; Lord, teach us to pray just as you taught your disciples."
There is a program at St. Anthony's
Church in New Orleans that does exactly that.
You can find more information at their website, whose title is rather imaginatively
called www.lordteachmetopray.com. And like Jesus, they offer programs for men
and for women. Would you perhaps
consider contacting them or some other way, to learn a little more how to pray
and how to pray constantly?
Perhaps some of us might say, this teaching
about prayer and persistence in prayer sounds all beautiful. But I pray every day and don't receive what I
ask for.
1. This could be prayer for
healing for ourselves or for a loved one.
2. Or we are praying that our son
or daughter return to Church.
3. Or especially in these
difficult times we are praying for a job for ourselves or for someone else.
We pray and we pray, but we do not get what
we ask for. Is that because God is
acting like the unjust judge and refusing to grant our prayer, and even worse
refusing to do so despite our persistence?
We don't know exactly why God decides to
grant some prayers, while he defers the granting of others, and some he does
not grant at all. But again how can any
of us human beings know, while we are still on this side of heaven, how God works,
how he thinks, what his plans are? We only
have an inkling into who God is, through that small window that Jesus has opened
for us.
But we can trust that God, like any good
parent, grants only what we need and not necessarily what from our limited human
perspective we want. We must have faith
that when we meet God, he will fully and clearly reveal his plan for us and for
the world. That is probably why Jesus
concludes the parable of today's gospel with the question: "But when the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on earth?” He is asking that we have faith in God, not only when we
are asking for favours, but also as we wait for them to be granted.
Conclusion
One final thought. We have seen that in this parable, God is not
the unjust judge, but one who would act far better than that. Who then is that unjust judge?
What if we are the unfair judge and God is
the widow? We, like the judge, are basically unjust, sometimes have no fear of
God, often no fear of man. Like the
judge we persist in refusing to listen to the cries of the poor all around us.
But God is the persistent widow who will
not go away. God keeps badgering us, refusing to accept as final our 'No' to
loving him and loving our neighbour.
And so now, not only must we pray and must
we pray persistently, we must also hold out the hope that God too will be
persistent in pestering us until we render a just judgement against the adversary,
that is, until we choose to always love him and to always love our neighbour.
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