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Click here for information on the Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Most of the time when we hear a parable it is pretty easy to tell who is the main character. So often the titles that we give the stories give away who is the good guy and who wears the black hat. The good samaritan, the prodigal son, the faithful steward. Today’s Gospel is a little harder to pin down. Which character is the focus of the story? Should we call it “The Parable of the Unjust Judge,” or maybe “The Persistent Widow,” or take the easy way out and say “The Parable of the Widow and the Judge.” And what is the message? If God is the judge, is the message just be persistent, keep badgering God and eventually he will give you what you ask for? It can’t be that because this judge is clearly not portrayed as God, in fact it says he neither feared God nor respected any human being. That is not our God.
It helps if we look at all three readings and when we do the theme that emerges is persistence, persistence in doing God’s will, persistence in preaching God’s word and persistence in confronting injustice. The first reading finds Moses persevering in doing what God commanded on Israel’s behalf. And when he gets weary, as we all do, it is his friends, his community that helps him carry on. Sometimes we feel like we are doing God’s work but we just get tired, maybe feel that we aren’t making a difference? At times we feel like we are the only ones holding up Moses’ arms and even though the fate of Israel, or a Guild, or Religious Education, or Parish Council may rest on us, we are tired. That is when we have to call on God, our friends, our community for help and support.
The Letter to Timothy is a little scary. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, . . . proclaim the word: be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.” The message to Timothy couldn’t be clearer - be persistent in proclaiming the word. And the word that we hear throughout the scriptures is confront injustices, care for the poor, the immigrant, the vulnerable. As Christians we will be judged by Christ on how we acted when faced with injustice. Do we try to correct the injustice? Do we try to protect the vulnerable? Do we vote for government officials who are willing to protect the unborn, who are willing to protect religious freedom, who are willing to be their brothers keeper? Be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.
And finally, the Gospel. The theme continues with the widow’s persistence. The key word in this story is “justice,” the widow hounds the judge in order to obtain justice. Today we can’t imagine how hard this must have been. A widow was on her own, usually destitute, ignored, vulnerable. In biblical times the judge would have been surrounded by crowds of men, shouting to get the judge’s attention, asking that a loan be repaid, property returned. And probably slipping a few coins to an attendant to get his case heard. And into this male world barges our widow and she goes right up to the judge and demands to be heard. Over and over and over. No bribes, no threats, just do what is right, do what is just. She is not willing to let injustice exist, because the injustice affects her.
Maybe that is our problem, we don’t see that the injustices in our country, in our world, affect us. Until we see the unborn child as our brother or sister, until we see the Syrian refugee as a vulnerable child of God, until we see forcing Christians to pay for abortive drugs as an injustice, until we see that requiring Christian businesses to recognize same sex marriage violates religious freedom, we won’t do anything. Until we decide that it is not hopeless, we won’t be persistent in demanding to be heard. “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.” Like the widow we can’t just pray for justice, we have to be persistent; persistent in doing God’s will, persistent in proclaiming God’s word, persistent in confronting injustice, whether it is convenient or inconvenient.
It helps if we look at all three readings and when we do the theme that emerges is persistence, persistence in doing God’s will, persistence in preaching God’s word and persistence in confronting injustice. The first reading finds Moses persevering in doing what God commanded on Israel’s behalf. And when he gets weary, as we all do, it is his friends, his community that helps him carry on. Sometimes we feel like we are doing God’s work but we just get tired, maybe feel that we aren’t making a difference? At times we feel like we are the only ones holding up Moses’ arms and even though the fate of Israel, or a Guild, or Religious Education, or Parish Council may rest on us, we are tired. That is when we have to call on God, our friends, our community for help and support.
The Letter to Timothy is a little scary. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, . . . proclaim the word: be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.” The message to Timothy couldn’t be clearer - be persistent in proclaiming the word. And the word that we hear throughout the scriptures is confront injustices, care for the poor, the immigrant, the vulnerable. As Christians we will be judged by Christ on how we acted when faced with injustice. Do we try to correct the injustice? Do we try to protect the vulnerable? Do we vote for government officials who are willing to protect the unborn, who are willing to protect religious freedom, who are willing to be their brothers keeper? Be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.
And finally, the Gospel. The theme continues with the widow’s persistence. The key word in this story is “justice,” the widow hounds the judge in order to obtain justice. Today we can’t imagine how hard this must have been. A widow was on her own, usually destitute, ignored, vulnerable. In biblical times the judge would have been surrounded by crowds of men, shouting to get the judge’s attention, asking that a loan be repaid, property returned. And probably slipping a few coins to an attendant to get his case heard. And into this male world barges our widow and she goes right up to the judge and demands to be heard. Over and over and over. No bribes, no threats, just do what is right, do what is just. She is not willing to let injustice exist, because the injustice affects her.
Maybe that is our problem, we don’t see that the injustices in our country, in our world, affect us. Until we see the unborn child as our brother or sister, until we see the Syrian refugee as a vulnerable child of God, until we see forcing Christians to pay for abortive drugs as an injustice, until we see that requiring Christian businesses to recognize same sex marriage violates religious freedom, we won’t do anything. Until we decide that it is not hopeless, we won’t be persistent in demanding to be heard. “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.” Like the widow we can’t just pray for justice, we have to be persistent; persistent in doing God’s will, persistent in proclaiming God’s word, persistent in confronting injustice, whether it is convenient or inconvenient.