The first reading and gospel for today are important teachings about prayer. The reading from Exodus sees prayer as the way we win battles. Let’s not limit battles to battles of war, though. There are battles of sickness, battles against disappointment, battles that come from life challenges of every kind. Prayer get us through, for as the responsorial psalm reminds us:

“Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

The LORD will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and your going,
both now and forever.”

 St. Luke’s reminds us in his gospel that though we may think we are powerless, God is our guard, on our side. God is on the side of the poor widow seeking justice from an unjust judge. She seems powerless, but she gets her way through perseverance. The widow Jesus speaks of is an example. She seems powerless, but she’s actually more powerful than the unjust judge, who seems invincible. 

“God looks with favor on his lowly handmaid,” Mary says, who introduces a number of lowly people in Luke’s gospel. The Prodigal Son, expecting the last place, is welcomed to his father’s house with a feast. The thief on the cross, condemned to death, is promised Paradise. 

Don’t give up, Jesus says in the parable today, God hears you when you pray.

Yet, Jesus recognizes we get tired of praying. For one reason or another, we may give up praying or perhaps our prayer becomes occasional. It isn’t doing any  good, or maybe we are not good enough, we think. God isn’t listening, or maybe we think we can take care of everything ourselves. Perhaps God isn’t interested? 

We can lose an appreciation for prayer or get tired of it for a number of reasons. Then, prayer  becomes an unused neglected gift.

In our parable today “a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being” stands in the widow’s way. He’s a dishonest judge. He doesn’t care about God or anybody else. He seems to have absolute power.

Then, there’s the widow, who seems to have no power at all. We don’t know her grievance. Has someone cheated her; someone wronged her? She’s looking for justice, but can she get it? 

Is the judge who really doesn’t care, is he involved in the grievance himself? Who knows? Humanly speaking,  it doesn’t seem she has a chance of being heard. But she keeps going, she doesn’t give up, she doesn’t lose hope. 

She persists.The judge says, “She keeps bothering me, she wearing me down;  finally he gives in and justice is done. God is the very opposite of the unjust judge, Jesus 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.” Jesus says.

We hear those words of Jesus but we have questions about them, don’t we? Justice will be done, the rights of God’s chosen ones will be secure. But justice will be done speedily. Speedily?

Speedily for us means right away, doesn’t it? And when things are not done right away, we lose faith, we wonder if God cares; is God listening, can God do anything about it at all?

The poor widow is someone to keep in mind.We have to keep her faith and hope in mind. She believed One more powerful than the unjust judge was on her side.

And God’s way of securing our rights, God’s time, God’s way of having his kingdom come, is not ours. We have to keep praying, keep knocking at the door, keep asking, keep seeking, night and day. Today, more than ever, we need to keep praying. We’ll be heard.

One last thing. “God’s chosen one who call out to him night and day.” Is that a reference to morning and evening prayer? Maybe so.