Homily from 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, by Father Robert Glynn, S.J.

From Father Bob Glynn, S.J.:

The parable of the unjust judge follows the logic of the parable of the unjust steward and the Synoptic idea that “if you who are evil know how to give your children good things, how much more so will your heavenly Father.” Thus, the judge is by no means God. He represents the “wisdom” of a world where one’s own needs and concerns come first, no matter with what kind of authority one has been entrusted.

The judge in the parable never deals with the injustice with which the widow is concerned, since the reader knows no details of the case by which to assess the judge’s reasoning. Injustice is wrong no matter what, and the woman has asserted herself against a male-dominated social system which would see her treated unjustly no matter what her complaint might be. The judge’s final assessment is not based on the rights of the woman, the indignity of what she may have suffered, the fact that as a widow she has no one to champion her, but must take on a role not afforded her by the society in which she lives and which is entrusted with her welfare. Rather, like all who coordinate and benefit from a dramatically skewed system, he is concerned only what personal gain or loss may accrue to him. In the end, “justice” is not served since the law is not even given a wink and a nod.

The woman engages in an activity which would certainly have not been normal for her day. She insists that she be treated with dignity, that her own needs be considered and weighed by those entrusted with seeing that all who are subject to the (Mosaic) law are giving a fair hearing (or any hearing at all). The woman’s persistence marks the only power she possesses, an unlikely one to win the day with such a judge as the mediator of her complaints. Yet she is triumphant—a clear Lucan theme—and can rejoice that her refusal to remain a passive victim of injustice has borne fruit.

Certainly, God who is the author of justice, who is in fact Truth and Justice himself, can only want that the woman and all who are subordinated to the caprices of the powerful be vindicated and an ill-functioning system be subverted. The call is indeed one to prayer, which requires the one praying to trust that God’s power is for those on the verges of society, those who lack the wherewithal to arrange that their own wills be followed. One’s own power is an ultimate trust in God’s goodness and justice which does not fail those who seek to find in Him what is true and right. Prayer is confidence rather than desperation and involves a sense of trust in God’s radical and pervasive love.