Persistence Pays Off

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐌𝐚𝐥 𝟑:𝟏𝟑-𝟐𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏:𝟏-𝟒, 𝟔 “𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟏:𝟓-𝟏𝟑

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒉𝒊𝒎!”  (𝒗.13)

        The Webster Dictionary defines persistence in many ways and among these are perseverance, constancy, staying power, pertinacity, tenacity, tenaciousness, doggedness, indefatigability, boldness and relentless. There are other words related to persistence but what is enumerated here more or less provides us an idea of what persistence means.

         Of these words, I particularly like tenaciousness, doggedness, boldness and relentless since these words aptly describe the action of the man in this parable who went to his friend and neighbor to ask for bread in the middle of the night because a friend of his who was on a journey stopped over his house and he was caught unprepared.

         We need to gloss on the culture of the people at the time so that we can at least grasp the scenario in this parable. Many travelers in those days travel at night to avoid the day’s hot temperature and this traveler went to the man’s house because the man was his friend and he knew perfectly well that he would not be refused.

         The man was embarrassed because he had run out of bread and so he, in turn, mustered all the tenacity that he could to knock and wake up his neighbor to ask for bread. Tradition has it that bread which is the primary staple of the Jews in those days was baked at home, but households would normally bake just enough for the needs of the family for the day.

         The family of the neighbor was already asleep, and he didn’t want to open his door lest the commotion wake up his family but there were two compelling reasons why he did open his door and give the man the bread he was asking for.

         One is because of the “𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆” (𝒗.8) of the man. The other reason is that hospitality was a sacred duty at that time and to refuse to give bread to a neighbor in need would bring shame because it was a sign of inhospitality and the neighbor couldn’t risk being labeled as inhospitable especially to a friend who had a valid reason for waking him up even in the dead of the night.

         Which is why this parable is not just about persistent prayer which is our common understanding of this parable, but this Gospel is also about us particularly in the way we relate to our neighbor, and we might again ask “𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫?”

        Well, anyone who is in need is our neighbor and in this parable the man who was traveling and who dropped in unannounced fell into the category of what a neighbor was.

         I am sure that there are some of you who were like the neighbor who at first refused to get up and open his door. There were times before in my life when I also acted in the same way when I refused to help even a friend who would pop out from nowhere and especially if they would come when I am in a bad mood.

         What this parable is telling us is that generosity knows no bounds and, similar to the tradition of the Jews we are obliged to be hospitable and help our friends and neighbors when they come to us for help even if they come at a most inopportune time which means we are not to refuse anyone who will ask us for help. In other words, we are to be ready to help 24/7.

         Such generosity on our part finds a model in the magnanimity of Our Lord Jesus Christ who “𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 21:22) And in this parable, Jesus provides us with three types of cause and effect when he said in 𝒗.9 “𝑨𝒔𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖; 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅; 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”       

        Ask, seek and knock are the causes which means these are the three things that we need to do to find answers to our prayers. And Jesus assures us he will grant whatever we ask in faith, and in this parable, he shows us the effect or the result when he said: it will be given us if we ask, we will find if we only seek, and the door will be opened and all we must do is knock.

         This parable shows that if the boldness of the man could propel his neighbor “𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔,” (𝒗.8) how much more hospitable can God be who is sure to give us what we need.

          But such generosity on the part of God is conditioned on the level of trust and confidence that we have in God. And in this parable, God raised the bar even higher because what he is prepared to give us is none other than the Holy Spirit who will not only shower us with his many different gifts but will “…𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍" 𝑹𝒐𝒎 8:26-27 (𝑵𝑰𝑽); 𝑪𝑪𝑪741          

        The Spirit is the Father's very best gift. It is the gift of Himself to dwell with us and within us forever. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also states in 𝑪𝑪𝑪2652 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆: 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕. 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒅, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕.” (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 9, 2025)