And a widow in that town used to come to him

15 NOVEMBER (Lk 18,1-8)

The insistence, that becomes a non-stop request, bends every heart, weakens every will and darkens every mind. At the end something like a surrender occurs. Never might a person resist if he does not possess the fortitude of the Holy Spirit, invoked by him with equal insistence. He will easily fall. The history of Samson attests to it with all evidence.

After that he fell in love with a woman in the Wadi Sorek whose name was Delilah. The lords of the Philistines came to her and said, “Beguile him and find out the secret of his great strength, and how we may overcome and bind him so as to keep him helpless. We will each give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you may be bound so as to be kept helpless.” “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings which have not dried,” Samson answered her, “I shall be as weak as any other man.” So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not dried, and she bound him with them. She had men lying in wait in the chamber and so she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the strings as a thread of tow is severed by a whiff of flame; and the secret of his strength remained unknown. Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me how you may be bound.” “If they bind me tight with new ropes, with which no work has been done,” he answered her, “I shall be as weak as any other man.” So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them. Then she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For there were men lying in wait in the chamber. But he snapped them off his arms like thread. Delilah said to Samson again, “Up to now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you may be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave my seven locks of hair into the web and fasten them with the pin, I shall be as weak as any other man.” So while he slept, Delilah wove his seven locks of hair into the web, and fastened them in with the pin. Then she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Awakening from his sleep, he pulled out both the weaver’s pin and the web. Then she said to him, “How can you say that you love me when you do not confide in me? Three times already you have mocked me, and not told me the secret of your great strength!” She importuned him continually and vexed him with her complaints till he was deathly weary of them. So he took her completely into his confidence and told her, “No razor has touched my head, for I have been consecrated to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I shall be as weak as any other man.” When Delilah saw that he had taken her completely into his confidence, she summoned the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this time, for he has opened his heart to me.” So the lords of the Philistines came and brought up the money with them. She had him sleep on her lap, and called for a man who shaved off his seven locks of hair. Then she began to mistreat him, for his strength had left him. When she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!”, and he woke from his sleep, he thought he could make good his escape as he had done time and again, for he did not realize that the Lord had left him. But the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. Then they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters, and he was put to grinding in the prison (Judges 16,1-21).  

Jesus asks us to use to this insistence in prayer. The Father will not take long to listen to us. When we cry out to Him, He always comes to our rescue, without even making us wait long. He will readily do us justice. He is the good Father.

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?”

This last sentence is disturbing. Is it a question that deserves our reply? The Son of man, when he comes, will find faith if we, his body, his life, his truth, his light, will never have been tired of preaching and proclaiming the Gospel.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us people of prayer.