29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Luke 18: 1-8
This Sunday’s Readings
First Reading
Exodus 17:8-13
Joshua and the Israelites defeat Amalek with the help of God and his servant, Moses.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 121:1-2,3-4,5-6,7-8
The Lord is the Guardian of Israel.
Second Reading
2 Timothy 3:14—4:2
Paul exhorts Timothy to continue to preach the word Timothy received from his teachers.
Gospel Reading
Luke 18:1-8
Jesus urges his disciples to pray and not lose heart, for God hears and answers prayers.
Background on the Gospel Reading
This is the first of two parables that Jesus tells in Luke 18 about prayer. (The second will be read at Mass next Sunday.) This first parable is a lesson in persistence in prayer. (Next Sunday’s parable will address attitude in prayer.) While the parable seems to present prayer as nagging God for what we want, such a reading misses the point. God is not like the judge in the parable, worn down by requests and coerced to respond. The key is found in the description of the judge as corrupt and unjust. Since God can be neither, we must understand Jesus to be saying that if even an unjust judge responds to the persistence of the widow, how much more so will God listen to our prayers. God truly wants to hear our needs and respond generously. It is the final lament of Jesus that gets to the point of the parable. The lesson is about the persistence of the one who prays. God wants us to be like the persistent widow, staying in relationship with God, confident that God hears and answers prayers. Then Jesus laments, “Will such faith be found when the Son of Man comes?” In this lament, Jesus notes how easy it can be for us to lose heart.
DO WE STILL BELIEVE IN JUSTICE?
José Antonio Pagola
Luke tells a short parable that indicates that Jesus told it to explain to his disciples «about the need to pray continually and never lose heart». This topic is very dear to the Gospel writer since he repeats the same idea in various settings. As usual, the parable has been read almost always as an invitation to keep persevering in our prayer to God.
However if we take into account the content of this story and the conclusion Jesus makes, we see that the key to the parable is the thirst for justice. At least four times the expression «do justice» gets repeated. More than a model of prayer, the widow in the story is an admirable example of the struggle for justice in the midst of a corrupt society that abuses the very weak.
The first character in the parable is a judge «who had neither fear of God nor respect for anyone». He is the exact incarnation of the corruption that the prophets have denounced over and over: the powerful don’t fear God’s justice and don’t respect the dignity or the rights of the poor. These aren’t isolated cases. The prophets denounce the corruption of the judicial system in Israel and the male chauvinist structures of that patriarchal society.
The second character is a widow who is helpless in the midst of an unjust society. On one hand, she’s been suffering the abuse of an «enemy» who is stronger than she is. On the other hand she is the victim of a judge who isn’t at all concerned about her or her suffering. This is how millions of women have lived in most countries throughout the ages.
At the end of the parable, Jesus isn’t talking about prayer. More than anything, he asks us to trust in God’s justice: «Will God not see justice done to his elect if they keep calling to him day and night?». These elect aren’t «the members of the Church» but the poor of every nation who cry out asking for justice. Of them is the reign of God.
Later on Jesus asks a question that is a complete challenge to his disciples: «When the Son of man comes, will he find any faith on earth?». He isn’t thinking about faith as a holding onto doctrine, but faith that strengthens the action of a widow who is a model of indignation, active resistance and courage to demand justice of the corrupt.
Is this the faith and the prayer of Christians who live pretty complacent in our pampered societies? Surely J. B. Metz was right when he denounces that in our Christian spirituality there are too many songs and too few cries of indignation, too much complacency and too little yearning for a more human world, too much consolation and too little hunger for justice.
José Antonio Pagola
http://www.feadulta.com
Gospel reflection – Luke 18:1-8
Fernando Armellini
Prayer must not be a way to force God to do our will. Why are we invited to turn to him with insistence? What is the meaning of prayer? To these questions, Jesus responds today with a parable (vv. 1-5) and with application to the life of the community (vv. 6-8). The parable starts with the presentation of personages.
The first is the judge whose duty should be that of protecting the weak and the defenseless, instead of being godless and unsympathetic. (v. 2). He himself, in his soliloquy, accepts that the wicked reputation he made of himself has been totally justified: “I neither fear God nor care for about people” (v. 4). Jesus’ description of this man is quite realistic. One would think that it refers to some cases of blatant injustice he has heard or witnessed.
The second personage is the widow. In the Middle Eastern literature and in the Bible she is a symbol of a defenseless person, exposed to abuse; a victim of exactions, who cannot appeal to anyone except to the Lord. Sirach is moved by her condition and threatens anyone who abuses her: “The Lord is judge and shows no partiality. He will not disadvantage the poor, he who hears the prayer of the oppressed. He does not disdain the plea of the orphan, nor the complaint of the widow. When tears flow down her cheeks, is she not crying out against the ones who caused her to weep? Her sorrow obtains God’s favor and her cry reaches the clouds” (Sir 35:12-16).
In the parable, a widow who suffered injustice is put to the scene. Perhaps she was deceived in a transition of inheritance or was a victim of a scam. Perhaps someone has exploited her work; certainly, she has been wronged and claims her rights but no one listens to her. She has no money to pay a lawyer nor knows someone who could plead her cause; no one to advise her. She has a single card in hand and plays it: she pesters the judge repeatedly, with obstinacy, at the cost of looking indiscreet (v. 3).
After having presented the two personages, the parable continues with the soliloquy of the judge. One day he decides to solve the case not because he realizes his misbehavior but he is tired and annoyed by the insistence of the woman. He says: this widow is troublesome, she pesters me and becomes unbearable (vv. 4-5).
The parable concludes here. The following verses (vv. 6-8) contain an actualization. We will comment on it later. First, we try to grasp the meaning and the message of the parable.
Who is the unjust judge? The answer seems obvious, and even embarrassing: it’s God! But it is not so. This personage, in reality, is secondary. He is introduced only to create an unsustainable situation that Jesus wants to draw attention to. It is the condition in which the disciples find themselves in this world that is still dominated by evil and profoundly marked by death.
At the time of Jesus, injustice was rampant in oppressive political, social, and religious systems. Today it is represented by abuses and fraudulence at the cost the poorest, by inexplicable and absurd events and practices that disturb and contradict our longing for life.
What do we do in these situations?
Here is the message of the parable: pray. Jesus has told so—says the evangelist—to inculcate the belief that it is necessary to pray always, without ceasing (v. 1).
Prayer is the greatest means in order not to lose one’s head in the most difficult and dramatic moments when everything seems to conspire against us and the Kingdom of God.
How to be always praying? Prayer should not be identified with monotonous repetition of formulae that weaken both, the one who recites it and the one who listens. I believe—even God may be annoyed, if they are not expressions of an authentic sentiment of the heart (cf. Am 5:23). Jesus calls the attention of the disciples not to pray as the pagans who believe it to be heard for their much speaking (Mt 6:7).
True prayer, that which must never be interrupted, consists in maintaining oneself in constant dialogue with the Lord. Dialogue with him makes us evaluate reality, events, and people with their criteria of judgment. We examine with him our thoughts, sentiments, reactions, and plans.
To pray always means not to take some decisions without first consulting him. If, even for a single moment one would interrupt this rapport with God, if—to use the image of the First Reading—the arms are let down, immediately the enemies of life and freedom will take the upper hand. These enemies are called passions, uncontrolled impulses, and instinctive reactions. They create conditions for foolish choices.
It is prayer that allows, for example, to control impatience in wishing to establish the Kingdom of God at all costs and by any means. It is prayer that blocks us to force consciences and teaches us to respect the freedom of each person.
The conclusion of the passage (vv. 6-8) is rather enigmatic. The last phrase: “but when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” seems to insinuate the doubt on the final success of Christ’s work. To understand it, it is necessary to verify what he is speaking about and who are listening to him. Then a correction to the translation must be also made.
It is the Lord who talks and the Gospel of Luke indicates that it is the Risen One. He turns to the chosen ones, the persecuted Christians of Luke’s community. He wants to give an answer to their faith dilemma.
We are in the 80s of the first century, when, in Asia Minor, a very violent persecution started. Domitian claims that all should adore him as a god. The pagan religious institutions, servile and flattering, adequately give in and support the maniacal eccentricity of the sovereign. The Christians do not. They cannot—as the Book of Revelation says (Rev 13)—bow before the “beast” (the Domitian divo) and for this, they undergo harassment and discrimination.
Now it’s clear who the widow of the parable is: it is the church of Luke, the church whose Spouse is taken away; it is this community that awaits his coming, even though she may not know the day or the hour of his return and that each day, with insistence, she is pleading: “Come Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20).
To this invocation, the Lord gives a consoling answer, with a rhetoric question, “And will not God give justice to his chosen ones who day and night cry to him” followed by a peremptory affirmation; Yes, I tell you: He will bring justice to them soon; even if he makes them wait for long.” You may have noted that the question mark at the end of the sentence has been removed in my translation. This alteration makes the meaning of the text more coherent.
A major temptation of Christians is discouragement and distrust in the face of a long wait for the Spouse who delays and tolerates injustice.
The last sentence: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” does not refer to the end of the world but to the saving arrival of Christ in this world.
Before the inexplicable slowness of the judge, the widow could have resigned and despaired to the fate of not obtaining justice one day. The Lord alerts the community against this danger represented by discouragement and resignation of the thought that the Spouse is not coming any more to render justice. He will surely come, but will he find his chosen ones ready to welcome him? To someone, his slowness could cause a loss of faith!
Fernando Armellini
Italian missionary and biblical scholar
https://sundaycommentaries.wordpress.com
The power of missionary prayer to face new challenges
Romeo Ballan, mccj
In the middle of the missionary month of October, we are approaching the World Mission Sunday, as an expression of a commitment that is neither limited to one day (next Sunday, Oct 23) nor to a mere collection of material means. It is rather a wonderful pastoral opportunity to feel as a Church, as a living community of people who have met Christ and consider Him as a gift to be shared with others through concrete acts, like prayer, sacrifice, merciful works, signs of solidarity and – why not? – even by the offering of one’s life. The great theme of mission is the salvation of every person in Christ. The important topics, therefore, are always present: urgency of proclamation, scarcity of Gospel workers, need of incessant prayer, cooperation of all believers…
Mission, as far as the announcing of the Gospel, is going through seasons that are complex as well as promising. New situations are developing in the missionary Church. God’s Word today offers messages of hope for the tragic moments of human existence, at individual as well as at social and political level. God intervenes and saves, even if at times He seems to delay. His salvation is gratuitous, but it does not exempt us from our personal contribution. The people of Israel (I Reading), often embattled with one or another people, managed to overcome the Amalekites thanks to the prayer of an extraordinary man at prayer of intercession, Moses, who, with the assistance of two helpers, kept his arms raised in a gesture of supplication to God (v 11-12).
The experience of Moses at prayer is taken up in the psalm (“I lift up my eyes to the Lord”)and finds confirmation in the Gospel of the widow. Thanks to her persistence, “without loosing heart” (v. 1), she obtains an important result in spite of unfavourable circumstances: a pending cause, a judge who had neither fear of God nor respect for man (v. 2). The apostle Paul (II Reading), from prison, heartily recommends his disciple Timothy to do his duty in proclaiming the Word, in insisting on it on every occasion whether he is welcome or unwelcome, in admonishing, in exhorting (v. 4,2)… These are just some of the verbs referring to Mission which cannot be renounced. The biblical examples of Moses and of the widow stress the importance of prayer to be directed to the Lord of the harvest, who said to his disciples: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” (Mt 9:37-38; Lk 10:2). Prayer is an irreplaceable means of mission. One day, Daniel Comboni, a missionary in central Africa, in the middle of great difficulties, wrote: “The
omnipotence of prayer is our strength!” The word of Jesus gives us certainty: “God shall avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto Him… He will avenge them speedily” (Lk 18:7-8).
Pope Francis never misses an opportunity to renew a missionary appeal to all the Christian communities, those of ancient tradition as well as those of recent evangelisation, and to invite them all to a great missionary commitment to overcome the serious challenges of our times. In fact, we are facing an obvious cooling-off, some real signs of a winter of the Christian faith in the western world, which threaten also the Christian way of life in our countries. Being aware of this situation, we may understand the unsettling question of Jesus at the end of today’s Gospel: “But when the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith on earth?” (v. 8). It is perhaps the most challenging question for the life of the human family and, therefore, for the Church and her mission. The risk is “the silence of love in the night of indifference!” (Georges Bernanos). Pessimistic or realistic words? What is your opinion?
For a baptised person and the Christian community it is not the moment to withdraw into self, to reduce reasons for hope or to slow down in the missionary commitment. It is rather the opportunity to open up with trust to Divine Providence that never abandons its people. It is the occasion to renew our commitment to proclaim the Gospel; to increase our prayer and to open new fields for missionary activity.
