Persistence: A virtue we need to have

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟏𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐖𝐢𝐬 𝟏𝟖:𝟏𝟒-𝟏𝟔; 𝟏𝟗:𝟔-𝟗

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟓: 𝟐-𝟑, 𝟑𝟔-𝟑𝟕, 𝟒𝟐-𝟒𝟑 “𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞!”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟖:𝟏-𝟖

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚.” (𝒗.8) 

         There are two characters in today’s Gospel – the judge and the widow – and they are what make this passage interesting because we see here not just the contrasting disposition of the judge and the widow but how even an unjust judge will cave in to the persistence of an impoverished widow.

         Jesus described the judge in this parable as someone “𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏.” (𝒗.2) In other words, the judge was someone who was not only indifferent but one who is oblivious to the plight of even the poor.

         Based on existing Jewish law at the time, differences and or disagreements among the Jews are normally brought before the elders of the community and when a case is brought before the attention of the elders, it is the tradition during that time that at least three elders and or arbitrators are to sit in judgment, one to be chosen by the complaining party, the other by the defendant in a dispute and, the third is someone who is independent of either party.

         Because some Bible translations point to the judge as an unjust judge, it was assumed that the judge in question was notorious or known to be a corrupt judge who accepts bribes in exchange for the settlement of cases that can go either way depending on who puts up the bigger bribe.

         On the other hand, we can safely say that the widow was poor, and it was on account of her poverty that she had no other choice but to keep coming back to implore the judge to decide in her favor. Otherwise, she could have done what others do and that was to bribe the judge to earn for her a favorable decision.

         And while the widow had neither the money to bribe the judge nor the political influence to force the judge to decide in her favor, the widow was armed with a more powerful weapon than anything else. That weapon was persistence and the judge finally said to himself: “𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈!” (𝒗.5)        

         Persistence, however, is merely our response to God’s own persistence to save us from eternal damnation. If you just open your Bibles you will find that throughout the Scriptures God does nothing but show his great love and patience for all men so that all will be saved. In fact, creation itself is an expression and manifestation of God’s persistent Grace.

         And Christ who is God’s only Son is the expression of God’s persistent love. So persistent was God’s love that He went as far as to sacrifice His only Son to ransom us as an expiation of our sins. It is out of God’s own persistence that he now demands from us the same disposition and Jesus himself is telling us to persist in seeking God.

         Many times, people give up in their quest for God saying that they cannot find God and it is true because God cannot be found if we don’t exert enough effort to find him. To find God requires a deep amount of faith, an unwavering determination to seek him and forge a deeper relationship with him and God assures us that we will be rewarded in the end.

         In this age when we are beset with problems not only in our search for God but even in the world that we live in, God is asking us not to give in our efforts to search for Him and we can do this by continually asking Him to pour out on us his Spirit of knowledge, patience, wisdom, love and understanding and believe that these will all be granted.

         Thus, translated into our current life situation, persistence is a virtue that sits well with God. “𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲.” St. Paul tells the people of Thessalonica because he knew that this is the Will of God not only for the Thessalonians but also for us.

         While God may not always give whatever we pray for, God will nevertheless grant our prayers based on what God wills for us. This means that while we can draw on our ability to call on God in prayer especially for those to whom God has revealed himself, the day and time as to when our prayers will be granted is for God to decide.

         It is possible that God may withhold answering our prayers to test our faith that is why he asks: “𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉?” (𝒗.8) God raised this question because of the many who have fallen on the wayside and have turned their backs on their faith when they failed to get answers to their prayers.

         This is true even today. How many even went as far as to question God for whatever misfortune they may have experienced in life. How many blamed God for not lending an ear and took God to task for taking a long time to come to their aid. Aren’t we one of these? Wasn’t there a time when we too asked God why our prayers are not being answered?

         If we only open our eyes, we will see that God has already answered our prayers although not in the manner that we wanted or expected. If suppose we pray that God change a person whom we don’t like but instead of changing that person God changed us instead and gave us a heart to know and understand the person’s nature as he is. Won’t we consider this as an answered prayer?

         This was why Our Lord Jesus Christ was asking if we will turn our backs on our faith instead of persisting in our prayers regardless of whether our prayers are answered or not. And God will look kindly at our persistence especially if we will add what the Saints found to be the perfect prayer when they learned to say: “𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆.” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 6:10)        

        Perhaps this is what may be lacking in our prayers. Regardless of whether God’s answer to our prayers may be late in coming, we all must learn how to accept his Will and say not my will Lord, but your Will be done.  (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘕𝘰𝘷. 15, 2025)