At that time, 1 Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them the need to pray always and not to give up. He said:

 

At that time, 1 Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them the need to pray always and not to give up. He said: 2 "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to the judge, saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary!' 4 For a long time the judge refused. Finally he said to himself, 'I do not fear God nor respect man. 5 But this widow is already bothering me. I will give her justice, so that she will not come and attack me again.' '' 6 And the Lord said to him, "Listen to what this unjust judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep them waiting? 8 I tell you that God will give them justice very quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

— Word of Salvation.

Reflection

1. In the first verse, Luke makes the purpose of the text clear: "the need to pray always and never give up." He knows the importance of prayer in the life of any person, especially in the life of a disciple and of the entire Christian community. Just as columns are the support of a house or even a building, the backbone, the support of the body, so is prayer for the soul and, consequently, for the entire personal reality (body and soul). Nothing can be expected from those who do not have a life of prayer. Why is there a need for prayer? Because we were created to live for God, through Him and in Him; because we need communion with Him, otherwise we would not know who we truly are, nor would we know our origin and our end; because only in prayer do we have the strength to fight against everything that prevents us from being worthy men and women; because we need to overcome our pride, because without prayer man will continue living in self-delusion; because we need spiritual nourishment to be able to remain firm in the deserts of our times; BECAUSE WE ABSOLUTELY NEED GOD IN EVERY SENSE, ESPECIALLY IN OUR CONVICTIONS.

2. As for the judge, he is someone who “did not fear God” and, consequently, “did not respect man.” At the end of the text, he is also called an unjust, iniquitous, lawless, and faithless judge. In truth, he is someone who only thinks about his own good, his knowledge, his status quo, his position, his interests, and the name he has; he does not want to lose power and, furthermore, uses it to do whatever he wants. On the other side, there is the widow, fighting for her rights. With the death of her husband, she, without lawyers, goes to meet that judge on her own in order to obtain what is justly hers, what belongs to her. She has an adversary who wants, at all costs, to take possession of the inheritance left by her husband for some unspecified reason. The fact is that she insists timely and inopportunely.Now, the comparison made here between the unjust judge and God is not to affirm that they are equal, but to show that if that judge, being evil, can do good, certainly by force, through the inconvenience of the widow, insisting on her rights, much more will the Lord do so, who is GOOD in Himself, the Creator and Savior of all. The text makes clear the situation in which the disciples live: a reality of persecution, constant trials and, because of the apparent absence of God, many enter a state of disillusionment, thinking that God no longer cares about them, does not come to visit them, leaving them to suffer the injustices and persecutions of their time. It is as if they had been abandoned by God. Luke wants to show that God does not abandon His own and that He attends to them for their salvation. Why so much persecution of the innocent, especially those who pray? The world of sin hates truth, love, true freedom and life. This is the world in which man inverts the situation of his existence: he should live for God, but he acts the opposite, intending to make God his slave. It is the world of pride, of self-attachment, of tyrannies, of ideologies, of oppressions of vanity and the desire to enslave; a world of individual, narcissistic satisfaction; a world of vices and horrors. It is a world without horizon, without direction, without meaning and without a glorious future. In such a world, being true, just, kind, a promoter of peace and order, fighting for the good of others and the equality of God's children, thinking about what truly dignifies man is a stumbling block for the "worldly". Those who fight for their rights suffer in the clutches of corrupt bureaucracy, especially if they are unprotected. Those who defend the rights of the innocent also put their heads on the gallows.

5. Why does God allow so much suffering for the innocent? God made us free men and women, capable of making decisions for the good, but unfortunately we choose evil. In truth, we are free for the good of our communion with God, but unfortunately, in our limitations, we often prefer sin. Many give themselves completely to evil, becoming almost a kind of satanic incarnation, harming themselves and others. The choices of any person do not affect only those who make them, but many who depend or will depend on them. Someone who decides to kill millions of people, as in the case of Hitler, also of the communists in the former Soviet Union, in Spain and China, or even terrorists, men and women who choose to blindly surrender themselves to a way of life, seeing only their world, their self-interested universe, is not prevented from doing so because, when we think of God, we know that He has other ways of resolving this very serious situation. God knows the inner self of each man, but He also knows that He cannot take away the freedom He granted to humanity, and He also knows that He can grant the innocent a new life. This is certainly very hard for us, but if we are not materialistic, we are aware that God, being God, allows it because He will give something better to those who suffer death and to us, showing us a new path towards Him. He, the Father, offered us His beloved Son. And what was our reaction? Because of our sin, because of our bad choices, we threw Him on the cross. When we freely chose to sin, we denied the gift of our own freedom and agreed, even if indirectly, to throw Christ on the cross.

6. The question at the end of the text highlights an important fact in and for the community: "Will the Lord find faith on earth?" In other words, does the community really trust in the Lord? Can they still maintain a life of persevering prayer despite the vicissitudes of time? Is there still a charm in their lives for Jesus Christ? Has "God's delay" closed the door to heaven for them? Have you over time become involved with the pleasures of the world or are you allowing them, slowly but steadily, to enter your heart again? Luke insists that the waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ, the Savior, must be done through constant and persistent prayer, confident and selfless, courageous and determined, clear and totally focused on God.

A big and affectionate hug.