Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time (November 18, 2017): Entering the Kingdom

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 18:1-18)

Jesus told his disciples a parable
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. 
He said, “There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, 
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.'” 
The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. 
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night? 
Will he be slow to answer them? 
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. 
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Good News Reflection:

Introductory Prayer:Lord help me to put aside my concerns and worries. This time is for you. Here I am alone with you to listen to your words. I believe in you. I believe that there is much you would say to me. Help me to believe, listen and obey.

Petition: Lord, let me pray with confidence and constancy. Don’t let me become discouraged in the good I want to do.

1. The Persistent Widow.Luke introduces a parable on prayer and gives us the key to its interpretation. “Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” The widow obtains her petition from the wicked judge because of her constancy. The application here is direct. We need to be constant in our prayer. God doesn’t always respond immediately or in the precise way we would like him to intervene. God is good. He is not a wicked judge. We address him as our Father, with all the confidence of a son who asks for something good from his dad.

2. The Humble Tax Collector.The next parable presents us with the contrast between a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee was zealous for the law in its smallest application. He went to the Temple and the synagogue. He tithed even the seeds he received. He was seen as a man of God. The tax collector was the man with the reputation. He was a sinner. However, it was he who went home justified, because he sought God’s forgiveness with a humble heart. “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” This day let his prayer be our own.

3. The Kingdom Belongs to Children.The final teaching speaks of the general disposition necessary for us to enter into God’s kingdom. We must become as little children. The kingdom belongs to a father, and to enter in, we must become his children. This should fill us with confidence to approach God. We should be simple in following his will in our life. His will for us represents the best thing for us. Often parents need to deny their child something, for they know it would only harm him. Thus we need to trust God as a small child trusts his mother or father.

Dialogue with Christ: Christ, teach me how to be trusting and simple like a small child. So often I have no time to be a good son or daughter. I rush around with a million things. I worry. I forget. Help me to be humble. I know that the Father rejects the proud. Help me to be obedient as you were obedient.

Resolution: I will practice constancy in my prayer today and in the recitation of the rosary.

Fr. Marcial Maciel, LC

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