Homily

We are drawing closer to the end of the liturgical year. This year has been a time in which, from Sunday to Sunday, we have been led to contemplate the mystery of Jesus. Our weeks and days could be compared to baking bread, raised with the yeast of the Word of God. Also, on this Sunday, we receive this gift of the Word that extends throughout the days of our life. Today’s reading is the short parable of the insistent widow, an account of a rather typical situation found not only in the juridical customs of the Old Testament. Even today, not too uncommonly it happens that some arrogant people avail themselves of legal nit-picking to steal from the poor what little they have. Returning to the parable in today’s Gospel reading, the judge, in an impartial and timely manner, ought to have defended that poor woman, but instead behaved wrongly: he neither fears God nor has respect for people, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people” (Lk 18:2). This passage represents the arrogance of the powerful, which we often come across throughout our history. The prophet Isaiah had already denounced them, “Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be your spoil, and that you may make the orphans your prey!” (Is 10:1-2).
At this point the story told in the parable begins. What will the poor widow do in this situation of blatant injustice? Apart from everything else in the Jewish world at that time, women in her situation were seen as the epitome of weakness and were the most exposed to abuses. God, however, defends the widows who are no longer under the protection of their husbands. In fact, God is often invoked as the “protector of widows” (Ps 68:5). This woman, however, does not resign herself to the injustice that she suffers, unlike the many other women who usually did. She was certainly a victim, but not one resigned to her condition. Insistently, she went before the judge demanding justice. She did not go only once, but many times, and tenaciously, she never tired of asking for justice until that judge finally decided to consider her case. “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming” (v. 4-5). This is how the parable ends.
The brief concluding remarks that Jesus makes are very important. Initially they seem rather disconcerting, because he draws a parallel between the judge in the parable and God, but which serves as a paradox used other times in the Gospels to remove any doubt from our mind, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them” (v. 7-8). Yes, God will not make us wait long, but will grant us justice quickly (some translate it as “all of a sudden” or “when you least expect it”), if we are insistent in our prayers. Indeed, believers find an incredible strength in prayer, an energy that is able to change the world. Perhaps all of us are like that poor widow, weak and without any particular power, and yet, this weakness, through insistent prayer, becomes a powerful force as it was for the widow who was able to shake the judge’s harshness.
Unfortunately, it is easy for us to fall into faithlessness and incredulity, letting the things of this world, our worries and desire for security, overwhelm us and make us forget about prayer. The first reading in today’s liturgy, taken from Exodus (17:8-13), stands as an example of this “weak force” of prayer. Scripture presents us with the figure of Moses with his hands outstretched toward heaven while Israel goes into battle with Amalek on the plains of Rephidim. Moses personifies all people in prayer. When he prays, the people of Israel win, and as soon as he lowers his arms, immediately the enemy begins to prevail. Aaron and Hur help Moses, one standing on either side of him to support his arms until the moment of victory. Through ceaseless prayer we believers are able to find the foundation on which to build our life and a city for all people, certain of what Psalm 127 proclaims, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labour in vain” (v. 1).