Thirty-Second Saturday of Ordinary Time

“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?”

Persistence pays off, especially in our spiritual lives. Just like the widow, we shouldn’t give up on our desire for a fair judgment in regards to our hopes and our dreams. Sometimes God might not answer us in the way we desired Him to, but He will answer us and His judgment will be just and exactly what we need at the time. When we pray for answers or help from God sometimes we can grow impatient and wonder why He isn’t answering us, but perhaps we are missing His clues and walking past the answers right beneath our noses. Or maybe He is giving us an answer that we just don’t want to accept and so we ignore His judgment and cling to someone or something that keeps us blinded to what is right in our lives. It is up to us to be persistent in our prayer life, but God will be the ultimate arbiter of the answers we receive and as long as we accept them when they come, we will grow in faith and wisdom.

Are we persistent in our spiritual lives? Do we trust that God will answer our prayers to our benefit, even when those answers go against our initial desires? Will Jesus find faith in our hearts when he comes again?

O Lord, render a just decision for me in all that I pray for.

Amen.