Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says

16 NOVEMBER (Lk 18,1-8)

Prayer is a struggle with God, real fight with heaven. Every fight ends with a winner and a loser. One must surrender. Prayer is true when it leads to the surrender of God with the fulfillment of our every request. God is already willing to surrender to his love for us. But man must never surrender in his prayer.

Then he prayed: “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac! You told me, O Lord, ‘Go back to the land of your birth, and I will be good to you.’ I am unworthy of all the acts of kindness that you have loyally performed for your servant: although I crossed the Jordan here with nothing but my staff, I have now grown into two companies. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau! Otherwise I fear that when he comes he will strike me down and slay the mothers and children. You yourself said, ‘I will be very good to you, and I will make your descendants like the sands of the sea, which are too numerous to count.'” After passing the night there, In the course of that night, however, Jacob arose, took his two wives, with the two maidservants and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his possessions, Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. He answered, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed.” Jacob then asked him, “Do tell me your name, please.” He answered, “Why should you want to know my name?” With that, he bade him farewell. Jacob named the place Peniel, “Because I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.” At sunrise, as he left Penuel, Jacob limped along because of his hip. That is why, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, inasmuch as Jacob’s hip socket was struck at the sciatic muscle (Gen 32,10-33).

Often it is man the who gives up, because he stops asking. He insists no more. He is declared defeated. In this he is helped by his false thoughts, by a wrong theology, by an ignored Gospel and by the Word of God not known enough. True faith is always the foundation of the true prayer. A false prayer is always the result of a false faith. Jesus teaches the true faith and therefore also true prayer.

I urge you, (brothers,) by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in the struggle by your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judea, and that my ministry for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the holy ones, so that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and be refreshed together with you. The God of peace be with all of you. Amen (Rm 15,30-32).

St. Paul asks the disciples of Jesus who are in Rome to fight with him in prayers. He needs a grace and this must be snatched out of the Lord of history. The prayer made by many hearts reaches more quickly to the heart of God and predisposes it to surrender to an answer. The prayer of many hearts is a true irresistible force.

Then he told them 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?”

In this parable, the evil omnipotence is overcome, it surrenders before the insistence of a widow. God is holy and merciful omnipotence, full of charity and compassion. He has already surrendered to us. He wants us to remind him with our prayers.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints teach us true prayer.