Reflection for Saturday 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

By


Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

Today's WORD of GOD

Luke 18: 7- 8 

"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."

Today's Reflection

Ready for HIS Return

While in a Crisis We may be Willing to Go the Extra Mile, Today’s Texts Ask for Fidelity over the Long Haul, Not the Heroism of the Single Brave Action, but the Heroism of Staying with the Daily Routine of Duty. 

Our Daily Duties may Seem Very Ordinary, but It Takes GOD'S Extraordinary Grace to Keep at It.

This Kind of Daily Faithfulness can Accomplish much, Keeping the Family Intact & the Business Afloat, or the Parish Functioning as a Place of Prayer & Goodwill. JESUS Addresses the Paradox of Seeming to be Stuck in a Rut & yet Reaching Our Goal, as Exemplified in the Widow who Kept Coming to the Judge, Demanding Her Rights. Finally the Judge’s Patience Wears Out, & so Settles the Case in Her Favour. the Widow is a Patroness of Persistence. We can Accomplish Very Much by Not Taking No for an Answer.

This Final Verse is Odd. No Other Parable in the Gospels Ends on a Question-Mark. “When HE Comes, will HE Find Faith on the Earth?” Originally It might Refer to the Threat of Roman Imperialism but It Speaks to Any Number of Situations. A Positive Response to the Question is 2b Involved in Spreading Our Faith, Each of Us as an when Possible. Then when “the All-Powerful WORD Leaps from Heaven, from the Royal Throne”, We will Find Ourselves Ready & Waiting to Greet HIM.


If at 1st We Don’t Succeed

We have Heard the Parable of the Widow & the Unjust Judge. Here was a Widow who Refused to Lose, even when Rejected by a Judge who Neither Feared GOD Nor had  Respected His Neighbours. This Powerless Woman was Faced Down by a Powerful Judge & the Odds were All Stacked Against Her. But She Refused to Give Up, certain that Justice was on Her Side. JESUS Proposes This Woman as a Model of Faith in the Face of Almost Insurmountable Obstacles.

At the End of This Parable, JESUS Asks, “When the Son of Man Comes, will HE Find Any Faith on Earth?” Will HE will Find the Resilient Faith of the Widow or, will HE Find, rather, that People have Lost & Lost Faith?

HE Gave This Lesson about the Need to Pray Continually & Never Lose . 

Good Morning 

GOD Bless Us All

Happy weekend

Pray for the victims of heavy downpour in Chennai.