May the Lord give you peace and grace.
It is 17th November 2023.
We reflect on Wisdom 13:1-9 and the Gospel of Luke 17:26-37.
Do we need to pester God in prayer?
Delay in obtaining a prayer does not mean denying our request. God continues to prepare us to accept the best God has planned for us.
As we conclude reading the book of Wisdom, we are reminded once again that God brings liberation to all those who put their trust in God.
It is not pestering rather a humble pleading that makes the prayer importunate. The prayerful person never panics but persists. Prayer is multiple attempts to tune ourselves to the rhythm of God. When our faith in God becomes formal, shallow, and shaky, our prayer becomes routine, repetitive, recital and noisy.
St. Luke insists that our vigilance in our prayer life strengthens faith in preparing us to be ready for the unpredictable day of the Son of Man even it looks as though it is delayed. Just like the powerless widow faced the powerful judge without giving up until she got what she pleaded for. Jesus sets her as a model of faith amidst obstacles and oppositions.
“When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” is not a question to demoralize our enthusiasm but to evoke insights into our prayer life and faith encounters. will God find such resilient and untiring faith of the widow on earth, when the Son of Man comes?
Prayer is the visible relationship with God through our invisible groanings. To give up in our prayer life is a sign of unweakened faith.
May our beloved mother Mary, the seat of wisdom intercedes for us to be resilient and persistent in our prayer.