“Jesus told His disciples a parable on the necessity of praying always.”   Luke 18:2

The first reading from today’s Mass is from the Book of Exodus.  Moses promised Joshua that while he went into battle against Amalek he would support him in prayer.  As long as Moses held up his arms in prayer the Israelite army had the better of the fight.  But Moses’ arms grew weary and tired so his friends Aaron & Hur and to give him strength and support.  They did not lose heart and so the battle was won.

In the second reading St. Paul in his second letter to Timothy reminds us that Christians  - followers of Christ are called to remain faithful to what they have learned and believed and that is not always easy.  He tells us to be men and women of prayer and never to lose heart.

In the gospel Jesus tells a parable which is a story to give a message.  It is about a persistent woman hounding a judge until in despair he ruled in her favor.  It tells us never to lose heart in our struggle.  God will see us through.

In your opinion what is the worst thing that could happen to you?  Some would think it would be to be killed or die prematurely.  And that is bad.  It is always sad to see a young person cut down in full bloom.  But when we ponder history for a moment it is not the worst thing that could happen.  Some of the world’s greatest treasures have been given to us by people who lived but a short while.  Franz Schubert is an example.  He died when he was only 31 leaving behind his “unfinished symphony” as a fitting symbol of his life.  But along with that he left more than a 1,000 compositions people are enriched every day by the all too brief life of that Austrian composer.

The supreme example of course is Christ our Lord.  At best we can calculate that He died when He was only 33.  That was a very short life.  But is was long enough for Him to impact the thinking and living of the world. 

Chesterton said “There was a young man who lived in the East and now I cannot look at a sheep or a sparrow or a green filed without thinking of Him.”  To die young is surely not the worst thing that can happen. 

Someone else might think that to lose one’s health would be the worst thing that could happen.  And again that is very sad but it is not the worst thing that could happen.  We all know people for whom every day is a struggle with bad health.   Just to get up in the morning requires all of the strength and energy they can muster.  They never know a day without pain and yet they continue to live a full life.  The loss of health is bad but it is not the worst thing. 

The worst thing that could happen to any of us would be “to give up.”  To be faced with a challenge and to tell ourselves it is no use – that is the worst thing that could happen to any of us.  To be fighting a hard battle and throw in the towel that is the worst thing that could happen.  Beverly Sills the opera singer said it best “I may be disappointed if I fail but I am doomed if I do not try.” 

Jesus talked about this in today’s gospel reading.  He told the story about a poor widow who was being treated unfairly.  It was probably some kind of financial fraud.  She sought relief by going to court.  Unfortunately the presiding judge was a scoundrel.  We are told he had no regard for the law of God or for the needs of the people.  It did not matter to him that the widow was being cheated.  Since she was not able to offer him a bribe he had no interest in her case.  But the widow never gave up.  She kept going back to court.  Every time the judge looked up she was there.  Finally he decided to settle in her favor – just to get rid of her.  She was driving him crazy.  Jesus knew that one day when the going got tough His disciples would be tempted to quit – so against that day He told them this story about “hanging in” and “never giving up.” 

One of the many stories about Sir Winston Churchill, the famous wartime prime minister of England tells of when he was the commencement speaker at a boy’s grammar school graduation.  After he was introduced to this young audience in glowing tribute to him, he slowly walked up to the podium, stood in silence for a few moments looking into the eyes of the students and then said in typical Churchillian style “Never, never, never give up.”  And that was it.  That was the entire speech.  And while the audience sat in stunned silence Churchill returned to his seat.  That is the message of Jesus in today’s gospel.  Don’t ever quit, don’t ever give up.  A familiar proverb from the athletic world says “Winners never quit and quitters never win!”  That is especially true of life itself. 

While the gospel story is about never giving up on life Jesus especially exhorts all of us on the necessity of praying always and never giving up our prayer life!  He saw prayer as a necessity without which life would be greatly diminished – that it should be practiced continuously and persistently.  We must keep on praying until it becomes a habitual part of our lives.  Jesus prayed all His life.  On at least 20 times in the gospels it is mentioned that Jesus prayed at great length – sometimes all alone in the mountains at night.  Once He spent 40 days in prayer in the desert and on the night before He died we find Him at prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus was a man of prayer and He teaches us in today’s gospel that prayer is necessary in all of our lives.  People of all places and times have prayed.  The reason for this is not hard to find.  “It is rooted in the realization that life is a difficult and mysterious enterprise that goes beyond our human strength and wisdom.”  In the tragic days of the American Civil War Abraham Lincoln said “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.  My own wisdom and that of all those around me seemed inadequate for the day.”  That great statesman was not alone in that sense of inadequacy.  It is the common experience of all of us.  Living is no easy assignment – Jesus knew that and that is why He spoke of prayer as a necessity.  It wasn’t that He needed things from God.  What He needed most was God Himself!  Our time together here will have been worthwhile if we can do just one thing – change our way of thinking of prayer.  We have thought of it as a religious obligation.  To Jesus it was a necessity.  We have thought of it as a way of getting things from God.  To Jesus it was friendship with God.  If that is true – if we and God can become friends – what else could be more important that that?  St. Alphonus once wrote “the man who prays will be saved – the man who does not pray will be lost.”  Michael Quoist the great modern French spiritual writer wrote recently “unless the men and women of this technological age are also men and women of prayer – technology will enslave.”  Science does not answer the question who we are, whey we are here and where we are going, or how to live our lives, but prayer does because it puts us in touch with the author of life, our creator and savior and friend Jesus Christ. 

Alfred Lord Tennyson the great English poet wrote that “more things are wrought by prayer than this world can think of” – one wiser that Tennyson, Jesus, said “ask and you shall receive, see and you will find, knock and it shall be opened to you.”  Believe that and do not lose heart.”  Amen

Return to Homily Date Page

Or

Return to Main Page