29th Sunday, year ’C’ "Jesus told them a parable abut the need to pray continually and to never lose hart. There was a judge in a certain town, he said, who had neither fear for God nor respect for anyone. In the same town there was also a widow who kept on coming to him and saying ’I want justice from you against my enemy!’
In order to underline how important it is to pray, Jesus gives us a parable that speaks of perseverance of prayer and prayer requests.
When we take the way of tenacious prayer constancy is the essential quality. Satisfaction can always be found here.
To illustrate how to overcome this difficulty of persevering in prayer, Jesus shows how a widow’s prayer, pursuing the judge of her reclamations until she gets what she wants.
If she doesn’t let up it is because she can’t do otherwise.It is because she is in need. In order to last out in prayer, it is a useful thing to lean upon our weaknesses and our poverty. Our perseverance is born from the fact that we recognise our dependence towards God our Heavenly Father. We ae in ned of his grace.
The poverty of heart has us recognise our lack and our needs, it leads us to the assurance that Jesus heals our pain. When we pay and love, we open up and give of ourselves so as to receive from another. What depends on ourselves is the opening up of ourselves and the gift of ourselves.
“At last eh said to himself ’ Even though I have neither fear of God nor respect for any human person, I must give this widow her rights since she keeps pestering me, or she will come and slap me in the face.”
If the inopportune widow insists with the judge to the point of wavering him and obtaining satisfaction, then how much more will our intercessory prayer find in our Father’s heart a just and favourable welcome.
In prayer we are to have an attitude of waiting and persevering vigilance.
Our cries lean upon Jesus promises and the presence of the Holy Spriit.
The Saviour Jesus is already here. It is a matter of turning towards him and tor remain with open heart and hands. We can always be disposed for payer, do what depends on ourselves to join the will of our Father. An so we shall receive the Holy Spirit who keeps us in poverty of the heart, so as to remain open to the coming gift.
Our expectation is an encounter where the conditions do no depend upon ourselves.
Thee poverty of the heart is the condition of persevering prayer and the spiritual fruit of this perseverance. Jesus gives us the parable of the poor widow who needed this judge to sort out he business, she holds out, is tenacious, won’t let up.
Th best attitude to have in prayer is the confidence of the little ones and the poor ones, for the harvest is abundant and there are so few workers. We need to enter into God’s Love that saves us.
“I promise you, he will see justice done to them and done speedily. But when the Son of man comes, will he find any faith on earth?”
It essential to have a poor heart if we are to hold out in prayer, it is necessary to be able to recognise the way in which God answers our prayers.
Whoever knows how to keep poverty and humility of heart will know how to welcome whatever Jesus wishes to give us and the way in which he desirs to give it to us.
The poor of heart knows that his Heavenly father has a look of love towards hi and that that it is much greater and more beautiful than himself.
And so after having presented his requests, he is completely trusting in his heavenly father.
We always need to keep coming back to our first Love. Come back to our first encounter with god, to the time of our call. We ask Mary to help us to enter into the mystery of humility! In the greatest ordeal humanity had ever born, she held out firm, believing in Jesus who saves us.
Jesus insists upon prayer out of a hard situation, for prayer I an ordeal for us. To start to pay means to turn towards God, to tell him what is on our heart, our salvation and that of the world.
Jesus said once more : ’When the Son of man comes back, will h find faith on earth?’
We ask God for the grace of payer so to be able to overcome resistance to prayer that we may find painful.