PERSEVERING PRAYER LIFE
The gospel this weekend gives us another parable — the story of the
widow and the unjust judge. Let us look at the main characters in the
parable:
 
a. Widow – poor, dependent on the support of others, but insistent and persevering on what she was asking. She was not budging or giving up even though she was already rejected many times in her requests. Widows during the time of Jesus were the classic image of poverty and marginalization.
 
b.  Unjust Judge – corrupt, inconsiderate, unkind and uncompassionate. He was besieged by the widow so many times. He finally gave in, not because he “felt” for the widow, but because he didn’t want to be inconvenienced anymore. His own words to himself were: “I shall deliver a just decision for her, lest she finally come and strike me.”  The original Greek words for “to strike me”, literally means “to give a black eye”, like someone who is in a boxing match.
 
So finally, the widow got what she wanted because of her perseverance and insistence like a good boxer fighting for the greatest match of his life. Do you have the perseverance and the persistence of the widow in realizing the greatest spiritual gifts that we need? Aside from the obvious lesson on perseverance, the person of the widow is also challenging us if what we ask God are truly things worth persevering and waiting for. The widow, being poor and marginalized, must be asking something very, very important from the unjust judge that she was putting everything in line just to get it. Let us ask the Lord for the things that are truly at the heart of who we are (especially the realization of his will) and not simply to settle for passing and trivial things.
 
Another point of this parable is the comparison between God and the unjust judge: 
The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. 
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. “
 
I find it actually insulting to God to even compare him to the unjust judge, but that is one of the points of Luke in this story. If the unjust and uncompassionate judge could be moved to give in to the request of the widow, how much more will our God who is just, loving,
compassionate and kind listen to what we need? But, what if despite all the energy, all the
asking, all the searching and even hammering on the door of heaven, nothing still happens?
St Augustine once said that God sometimes holds back to teach us to desire more. He said that, “the whole life of a good Christian is a holy desire.” We are like bags that need to be stretched to become big enough for what God wishes to give us. By delaying the fulfillment of our desires, God stretches us, by making us desire more, he expands the soul, and by this expansion, he increases its capacity. Are you patient and persevering enough to be stretched by God? – Fr. Cary