REFLECTIONS TODAY
The parable of the Widow and the Dishonest Judge pays attention to widows as a class often neglected in Israel. And so the Lord often gave warnings against maltreatment of widows.
In the early Church, the believers took care of widows, and when there was a complaint that Hellenist widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of bread, deacons were appointed to attend to them (Acts 6:1-5). God pledged himself to sustain the widow who hopes in him (Jer 49:11).
In the parable, Jesus points to the widow not as a helpless woman but one who wins over the judge who neither fears God nor respects any human being. Here, Luke is telling the Christians that by persistent prayer justice will eventually come; if not today then, in the eschatogical age.
Luke encourages all to pray without becoming weary, for God promises that anyone who asks will receive... most especially the good gift of the Holy Spirit (Lk 11:8-9, 13). On the other hand, the judge or any human authority must render justice, not simply out of human respect or to be free from vexation, but to be able to face the righteous God.
Gospel • Lk 18:1-8 [or Mt 14:22-33]
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?”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2023,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.