Jesus urges his disciples to pray and not lose heart, for God hears and answers prayers.

10-16-2022Weekly Reflection

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.

Saint John Chrysostom wrote, “He wishes you to be constant in prayer, to ponder in your heart the blessings you are praying for, to ask and receive what his goodness is longing to impart. He never refuses his blessings to those who pray, but instead stirs people up by his mercy not to grow faint in praying.” If we already know the moral lesson, what does the parable contribute? Hearing a command to pray always without becoming weary is daunting. We may feel that we receive nothing but silence from God, or that he is slow to answer our prayer, and be tempted to give up. So we find encouragement in the memorable example of one who persevered and received the answer to her petition. “Gladly accept the Lord’s encouragement; be willing to do what he commands. Consider what a blessed privilege is granted to you to talk with God in your prayers and make known to him all your wants. Though not in words, he answers you by his mercy, for he despises not your petitions and tires not except when you are silent” (Chrysostom).