29th Sunday C: The Courage of the Widow

Luke 18:1-8He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up,saying, "There was a judge in a certain city who didn't fear God, and didn't respect man.A widow was in that city, and she often came to him, saying, 'Defend me from my adversary!'He wouldn't for a while, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God, nor respect man,yet because this widow bothers me, I will defend her, or else she will wear me out by her continual coming.'"The Lord said, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says.Won't God avenge his chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?I tell you that he will avenge them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?":

Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘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.’” And the Lord said, “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. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

We hear at the beginning of this Gospel passage that this parable is about our need to pray always and not lose heart. But as with any parable, it is about much more as well, and this is indicated by Jesus' question at the end, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Faith like that of a powerless widow who nonetheless would not be silent about justice being denied. The unjust judge feared not for his safely, but for his standing in the community, his being exposed as a sham paragon of justice. The only power the widow has is to demand the truth, and thus expose the lie.

Will Jesus find such faith when he returns? Will he find people committed to Truth and Justice, people who refuse to be silent in the face of the lies of the  powerful and refute them publicly? Or will he find people who have given up hope that truth and justice matter any more, or can be demanded of others? Will those who purport to turn to him in prayer come to him in truth, seeing the greater truth, or will they come demanding that God give them what they want because truth died long ago, and all we have now is power? Will we say "Give me," instead of "show me" or "teach me."
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(insert own example here... unfortunately, I don't think it will be difficult to find your own example)

I live in Chicago, where masked gunmen currently roam the streets and kidnap people in broad daylight. I am not talking about third-world juntas or drug cartels, but ICE agents who behave in the same way, seemingly unaccountable to legal standards or common human decency. They were sent here "to bring peace" because Chicago was said to be such a lawless and violent place. They came "to arrest the worst of the worst" criminals—rapists and drug dealers, etc., but they have ended up arresting tamale vendors and roofers and people coming out of Mass after dropping their kids off for school. It is true that "violence" is a relative term, but by any account I can think of, they have brought far more violence than peace, and have broken more laws than they have stopped others from breaking.

Does this matter?! Will they, unlike the unjust judge, get away with trampling the rights of the poor and the powerless, or will enough people, like the poor widow, have the courage to stand up and oppose them?

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You and I are called not only to be truthful, but to hold others accountable. We see this as well in the first reading. 

When Moses went up the mountain to pray, he could not hold his arms up all day by himself. But he did not have to. He had help from his friends, one on his left, one on his right, holding his arms up for him.

Our search for truth is communal, like Moses' prayer. None of us find truth all on our own. We engage in truth-finding together, or we don't find truth. 

Which leads me to my final point. 1 Timothy says "all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching." Truth comes to us not only in bits and pieces, but fits together into a beautiful whole, so it is important not to let anyone chip away at the edges. If we are not committed to truth in small matters, we will loose it in large matters.