Saturday 32nd week in ordinary time
"Lk 18:1-8"
Jesus told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary'...And he added, "will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Faith. It's all a matter of faith. Jesus wants us to "pray and not lose heart", to never give up. God never stops listening to our prayer but He wants us to persist faith-fully until our prayers are answered. He said this in many different ways: "Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name" (Jn 16:23); "Ask, and it will be given you" (Mt 7:7); "every one who asks receives" (Lk 11:10); "whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith" (Mt 21:22). Sometimes Jesus takes His time to answer us because persisting is a proof of our faith. If we pray little we get little. If we pray much, we get much.
From the time he was a baby, you could tell he was headed for trouble. He was a rebel all his life. He didn't like study (particularly Greek, he explained later); he had all kinds of problems with chastity, stealing, keeping bad company, telling lies... He wrote many years later that he did this "for the only reason that it was forbidden". And his mother, Monica, suffered with all this and she prayed; she prayed a lot; she prayed for more than 30 years for him without ever giving up, even when she saw her son going off the rails.
And her persevering prayer was rewarded. St Monica's son changed his life. You may have heard of him: St Augustine, bishop, Doctor of the Church, one of the most brilliant minds in Christian history; but first of all he was a great saint. St Monica's prayer changed the course of Christianity, since St Augustine brought about the conversion of many thousands throughout history. What would have happened if St Monica had given up? Mary, Comfort of the Afflicted, may I never let up on prayer. (Half way through November you can renew your resolution to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory).
