Reflection for Saturday November 18, Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 18:1-8

Gospel: 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?"

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Reflection:

Is prayer an essential part of your everyday life? What do you do after you pray? Do you just lie down and wait for the answers to your prayers to fall from heaven?

The gospel for today shows persistent prayers coupled with corresponding actions. In our gospel there is a parable told by Jesus about a persistent widow who ask again and again from a judge for a just decision she never gave up until she got what she wanted from the judge.

When we pray we humble ourselves before God, we humbly open ourselves to the unlimited blessings that God could shower us. When we regularly pray we get to know Jesus more deeply. We become not only friends with Jesus but very close friends with Him, thus Jesus becomes an essential part of our lives.

Make prayer a part of your daily life and you will feel that Jesus is always with you. You will also observe a deepening of your relationship with Him who is always just a prayer away from you. When you are prayerful you also are always assured of the presence of Jesus in your life.  

Don’t you want to be with Jesus all the time? You therefore have to be prayerful. - Marino J. Dasmarinas