October 16, 2022 (29th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

“Don’t Lose Heart”

by Fr. Dominic DeLay, O.P.

[This is the text composed by the homilist prior to delivering the homily.]

It’s bad enough when one of Jesus’ parables is followed by an explanation. I thought parables were more challenging questions than simplistic answers. But today, it’s even worse. This parable is explained before it’s even told: “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.”

And this is one of those out-of-left-field parables that’s even worse than the facile explanation. Is Jesus saying that just as the widow needs to bother the unjust judge before he’ll give her what she wants, we need to bother our unjust God before he’ll give us what we want? According to the American Catholic translation, the widow scares the judge, who says he’s afraid she’ll strike him. Are we to both bother and threaten God?

That passage from Exodus doesn’t help either. Leaving aside for today the question of why God should be advocating war – or at least depicted as such – why should Moses have to raise his arms all day for God to lead the Israelites to victory? Besides, how old is Moses at this point? A hundred? Yes, they give him a rock to sit on, which sounds really comfortable, and help hold up his arms, but why is this painful performance necessary? Worse than the possibility that God is making ancient Moses work so hard in prayer is the suggestion that Moses is magically making God do his bidding. After all, this was Moses’ idea, not God’s. The battle was Moses idea, too, and he presumes that God is going to do his bidding and not let his people be destroyed. What’s going on here?

Okay, I promise I’ll come back to Moses, but let’s first go back to the widow and judge. Jesus’s own explanation at the end of the parable might give us a clue: “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?” “Will not God then…” Is Jesus implying that God is not like the unjust judge? After all, parables aren’t analogies, where God is directly represented in the story. This is one of those “how much more” parables: If the unjust judge gives justice, how much more will God secure the rights of his chosen ones?

And there’s another clue in Jesus’ explanation: rights. This parable isn’t about me asking for an easy day, or even healing for myself. It’s about an oppressed and vulnerable person – and we know widows and orphans are the epitome of vulnerability in the bible – it’s about an oppressed and vulnerable person asking for justice. And God delivering it.

Who is she asking? Not God, but the person in power. And she’s not merely asking. She’s insisting, demanding. It’s hard not to think of all the women and girls in Iran lead a renewed demand for justice, risking their lives. Does God look on from a far away heaven, considering whether he will grant their request? Or is he standing with them? If God is anyone in the parable, he’s the angry widow, insisting, demanding, putting his own life at risk in Christ. God is the Iranian girl demanding justice.

Is God standing with Moses, supporting his arms through the intervention of Aaron and Hur? We have the opportunity, the power and responsibility, to stand with those calling out for justice, putting our lives at risk if needed, praying in solidarity always.

In this country, we still have the right, more or less these days, to issue rulings of justice through our vote. It’s less dramatic than threatening a judge or marching against Iranian morality police, it sometimes feels pointless, and it takes a bit of ballot decoding work. But it’s an important way Christians stand with those who cry out for justice. Which candidates and propositions stand with the poor? Which are backed by words or money that have hidden interests?

Jesus’ explanation continues: “Will [God] be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.” I guess speed sometimes means something different from God’s perspective, but the point is clear: justice will be done. It’s not about us needing to harass God or prove our case. God is victim, advocate, and judge, and justice will be done.

Jesus has a final twist, though, pulling the rug out from under our feet: “But when the Son of Humanity comes, will he find faith on earth?” Will he find us recognizing Christ in those in need? Will he find us standing with them? Will he find us carrying hope that change is possible? Will he find us turning to him for help, knowing that help is already here?

Remember that silly explanation that started the whole parable? Maybe there’s something there after all. Our translation doesn’t just tell us not to grow weary. Rather, we hear Jesus urging us not to lose heart. Let us not lose heart. Let us hold each other’s arms up in our prayer and other actions for justice. And let us remember that God never loses heart in us and our cause. For God is a strong and angry widow.