Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 3 And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ 4 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, 5 because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’” 6 The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. 7 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?”
God will not abandon the elect but they must remain faithful to Him and persevere in prayer (Rom. 12:12) out of love for Him. In a patriarchal society, a woman without a male to provide for her was powerless and usually taken advantage of. If the powerless widow could get justice from an unjust judge through persistence, how much more will the Christian get from a merciful and just God through persistent prayer? 'If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him (Lk. 11:13)?” In order for our faith to grow we must persevere in prayer. If we do not, we will not be able to remain faithful to God through the trials that assail us as we wait for our ultimate meeting with Christ.
Almighty God, grant us the grace to raise our hearts and souls to you each day in spite of any hardships we may face. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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