Reflection for Saturday November 12, Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr: 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:

After the death of Mother Teresa a book about her was published titled: Come be my light. It contained Mother Teresa’s letters regarding her struggle with her own faith. She said that she never experienced the presence of God since the founding of her religious congregation in 1948. 

Notwithstanding the emptiness that she felt Mother Teresa did not give up on her mission of helping the poor and the abandoned. She never gave up waking up 4:30 in the morning everyday to pray and converse with Jesus.   

What do you do when it seems that Jesus is deaf to your prayers? When you don’t see any visible signs of reply from Jesus? Do you give up and simply walk away from Him? Or you continue to hold on to Jesus, you continue to pray and hope that somehow you would see signs of His reply. 

In the Gospel Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He told them about a dishonest judge who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 

 There is also a woman who keeps on bothering the judge to give her justice.  Due to her persistence the judge finally listened to the woman and gave her justice. And 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? 

God’s word is always alive that it speaks to us! What Jesus is saying is we need to be prayerful and we must not give up even if we don’t see signs of reply from Him. 

In our short journey in this world there will be disappointments, there will be failures and struggles. Yet these trials must not lead us to abandon our faith. We must continue to be persistent in our prayers, we must continue to trust in the Lord and we must continue to believe and have faith. – Marino J. Dasmarinas