George went to the parish mission and was pleased that people were invited to approach the altar to be prayed over. George got in line and when it was his turn, the priest asked: "For what shall I pray?” George replied: "Father, I need you to pray for my hearing." The priest placed his hands over George's ears and prayed for a while. Finally, the priest removed his hands and asked, "How is your hearing now?" George said, "I don't know, Father, my hearing isn’t until next Wednesday."
A nun was once invited to dinner to a parishioner’s home. She waited for grace to be offered but everyone just began eating. She asked, “Don’t you say a prayer before you eat?” The answer came, “No, we’re French, we know how to cook.”
Prayer is central to our spiritual life. From it we receive moments of inner peace and joy. But we also know that it can also be a struggle and seem unrewarding. We can grapple with distractions—so many things we could be doing! At other times we may feel that God is inattentive or unconcerned about our pleas, and so with easily give up praying. But today, Our Lord relates a parable about the need “to pray always, without becoming weary.
A poor defenseless, aggrieved, widow brings her case to court. It’s been said that there are two kinds of widows…the grieved and the relieved! This is no ordinary widow, and the judge of her case, is no ordinary judge. We are dealing with two formidable characters!
A judge in Israel was expected to be a defender of defenseless, a champion of the opposed. But this judge is nothing of the kind. Those who appeared before him had reason to fear and nothing to hope for. He is terrible, cold, insensitive, and merciless.
But we discover that in this widow, this judge meets his match. She is just as formidable. She will not be put off. Through her tenacity and persistence, the inflexible, callous judge finally succumbs out of fear of being beaten black and blue!
This parable about prayer is not about trying to wear down a reluctant God as the widow wore down the judge. The lesson is not about bombarding heaven and beating down the pearly gates. It is a parable about God’s Providence and our perseverance. If an obstinate judge yields to a widow’s pleas, how much more will a loving and merciful God grant us what we need.
But duty is to persevere. Yes, in prayer we struggle with distractions, we can become restless. At times, it can be a dry and even tedious exercise that causes us to abandon prayer. Why should we “stick with it” even when our enthusiasm for prayer wanes? Well, for a few reasons:
Prayer over a long period of time helps us see that our own resources are insufficient and that we must be more dependent on God. Prayer over an extended time allows us to weed out those petitions that may be improper or untimely. We might say, ongoing prayer purifies and refines the content of our petitions. Perseverance strengthens our patience. We learn to wait on God because only God knows what is best for us in the long run.
The answer to our prayers will come but not always in the time frame or in the way we expect. St. Pio of Pietrelcina reminds us that “we cannot give God deadlines.” A prayerful disciple, confident of God’s Providence, is patient and persevering.
In the end, the best prayer always ends with the words of Jesus himself: “Not my will but yours be done.”
