Saturday of the Thirty-second week in Ordinary Time Third Letter of John 1:5-8. Beloved, you are faithful in all you do for the brothers, especially for strangers; they have testified to your love before the church. Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey. For they have set out for the sake of the Name and are accepting nothing from the pagans. Therefore, we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth. Psalms 112(111):1-2.3-4.5-6. Blessed the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commands. His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth; the upright generation shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house; his generosity shall endure forever. Light shines through the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just. Well for the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice; He shall never be moved; the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 18:1-8. Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, Render a just decision for me against my adversary. For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me. 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. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Commentary of the day Saint John Cassian (around 360-435), founder of monasteries Conferences, no.9, 1&3 ; SC 34 (trans. ©Boniface Ramsey OP, 1997) The necessity... to pray always without becoming weary The end of every monk and the perfection of his heart direct him to constant and uninterrupted perseverance in prayer. As much as human frailty allows, it strives after an unchanging and continual tranquillity of mind and perpetual purity. On its account we tirelessly pursue and ceaselessly apply ourselves to every bodily labor as well as to contrition of spirit… Therefore, so that prayer may be made with the fervor and purity that it deserves, the following things should be observed in every respect. First, anxiety about fleshly matters should be completely cut off. Then, not only the concern for, but in fact even the memory of affairs and business should be refused all entry whatsoever; detraction, idle speech, talkativeness, and buffoonery should also be done away with; the disturbance of anger, in particular, and of sadness should be entirely torn out; and the harmful shoot of fleshly lust and of avarice should be uprooted… And thus, when… there has taken place a cleansing purgation such as we have spoken of, which is perfected in the purity of simplicity and innocence, the unshakable foundations of deep humility should be laid, which can support a tower that will penetrate the heavens. Then the spiritual structure of the virtues must be raised above it, and the mind must be restrained from all dangerous wandering and straying, so that thus it might gradually begin to be elevated to the contemplation of God and to spiritual vision. LEST SHE FINALLY COME AND STRIKE ME. The parable of the persistent widow is a story not only of the power of persistent prayer but also of God’s sense of humor. On one hand, the judge is a figure of authority and power. He is described as “dishonest,” neither fearing God nor respecting any human being. He is likely remiss in his calling to be a protector of the poor and a defender of widows. On the other hand, the widow is powerless, without anyone to support or protect her. But she has persistence. It must sound funny to Jesus’ listeners that a powerful judge can be worn out or beaten by the relentless pursuit of a poor, powerless widow. Though fearing neither God nor man, he clearly cowers before this woman who is bent on getting a just decision. Her verbal threats, perhaps her physical presence, so fill the judge with fear that he delivers a just decision for her. Jesus says that while the judge acts more for a personal reason (to avoid being attacked by the widow) than from a sense of doing the right thing, God will do justice speedily (the right thing) for “his chosen ones”—people who constantly and steadily communicate their just demand, truly and honestly praying for it, every day, with patience, with respect, and with confidence that their request will be heard. “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of” (Alfred Tennyson). God is the source of the power of prayer, but human effort is also important.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:51:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015