Homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Persistence is the dominant theme in all three of today’s readings. It is, for a change, a simple and direct theme, and one that can instill great hope in God’s children.

Imagine that your four year old wants an ice-cream cone. He keeps asking and asking, and you tell him many things to hold him off.  You just had lunch.  You’ll spoil your supper.  You’ll get your clothes dirty. You didn’t do what I asked earlier.  But the child keeps nagging and nagging until you can’t stand it any more and you break down and buy the child an ice-cream cone.

God is rather like that parent.  The parent may have many good reasons why we should not get what we are praying for. As the adult, in this case – the all-knowing God – the parent may see things in a perspective that we don’t see – but, we keep hounding God with our prayers, we keep begging relentlessly.  What will God do?  According to Jesus, God will act like any parent, and will give us what we ask for.  One hundred per cent of the time?  No, of course not. Sometimes the parent does know more than the child and there are very good reasons why the child cannot have an ice cream cone. Perhaps they are lactose-intolerant.  Perhaps there is a bigger treat awaiting them at home.

But Jesus tells us that indeed, if we are persistent, we can wear down even God.

This theme is also present in the First Reading from Exodus.  As long as Aaron held up the rod, had persistence in doing so, the Israelites would win.  The added lesson here, though, is that Aaron couldn’t do it alone, much as we can’t be persistent by ourselves, as least as persistent as we need to be. We need support, just as Aaron did – the support of the community.  In our case this is the Church community.  One of the reasons that we have the Prayers of the Faithful at Mass is because what is a private need becomes a group concern – a group act of persistence – as each week we read list of people who need healing, who need our prayers because they have died, who have social justice issues which need correction, and generally people who need our help.  The community can reach God with a louder voice, perhaps, and so we share our needs with the persistent community.

In the letter to Timothy, St. Paul also talks about persistence. His persistence, however, goes full circle back to us.  Just as we are persistent in our requests to God, we need to be persistent in our proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ.  We must fight injustice persistently. Our goal is the kingdom of God – “on earth as it is in heaven”; and to reach that goal, Paul says we must be persistent.

In this parish, we have long been persistent in our requests to God, and I believe that God has answered our prayers many times.  We continue to be so, and the formality and careful reading of the names of those we pray for, over and over again, is a sign of our persistence.  But we must also heed Paul, and find ways to be persistent in delivering our message of the Good News. I would like more members of this congregation to volunteer to be readers, for example, and take the time to prepare the readings so that we can be persistent within our own community.  Or volunteer to set up and take down for our services, or help with the bulletins, or start something new like a choir or work with altar servers or start a Baptism, Eucharist or confirmation class.

I would like parishioners to find a way to be persistent role models of the message of Jesus in our workplace or in the streets, and even in our homes. If I have been persistent in any theme in my homilies this year of reading the Gospel of Luke, it is in my constant message to you that the kingdom of God can be experienced here on earth – not to the same degree as it will be later – but it can be experienced here, and that is what we need to work for. Our faith in God, supported by our other members, must be like Aaron – persistent in holding our hands up to God, pleading with God and fighting with confidence that we can defeat the social ills of our day like poverty and war. How can we be of service to other members of our own community, of the Grace Church community or the wider Warrenton community? Soon we will be embarking on a venture to help feed starving people.  Can we persistent in our numbers and in our efforts to do this?  This will be a real test of our persistence and of our growth as a parish community.

The parable Jesus tells today is about a judge who wasn’t very good.  He was quite bored with the widow who kept coming and asking for justice, and didn’t care about her one little bit.  We must remember that in the Hebrew Mediterranean culture widows were less than nothing.  Only men had any importance, and women were not allowed to advocate for themselves. This woman who has lost her husband, her advocate, would have no legal means of recourse to any judge, and no worth in the eyes of society.  This particular women that Jesus tells us about would be seen quite differently in Jesus time – would be seen as completely outcast, and completely desperate, and would have no one else to turn to and nothing to lose in harassing this judge. The only reason that she got what she asked for is that she was so persistent in her public advances to him,that he was afraid if he didn’t give it to her, people would laugh at him. It was a poor motive, but it allowed the woman to get what she needed.  Just as the judge caves in to the woman’s requests because of the public nature of her requests, God, who is not unjust and bored and uncaring, will do even more for us, especially when our prayers are backed up by the feelings of the community of believers, Jesus says – and that has to make us feel pretty good!

But there is a problem also with this interpretation of the story.  It is difficult and theologically incorrect for us to see anything of God in the judge himself.  Jesus was not comparing God to the judge’s injustice, the judge’s uncaring qualities. One commentator I have been reading, Barbara Reid, suggests that instead we see God as the widow, an interesting turn on the story. She suggests that when one sees the widow as God-like, the meaning of the parable is that when one fights injustice, and keeps fighting it, and fights it until justice is achieved, then one is like God. Jesus own fight against injustice, even to his death, and resurrection is the model of a God-like fight to the end to end the world of injustice and create the kingdom of God.  An interesting turn on the widow’s story! We are like Jesus, like God, when we fight injustice without ceasing, nagging and fighting till justice is achieved.It may seem that people don’t listen to us, but if we keep it up, don’t relent, justice may come by the sheer force of our persistence.

So pray unceasingly, join with the prayers of the community, and fight injustice.  If we continue to do this, we can bring about the kingdom of God on earth.

How many of you have seen this painting of an old burnt-down mountain shack? All that remains is the chimney - the charred debris of what was that family's sole possession. In front of the destroyed home stands an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his dressing-gown with a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. The child is crying. Beneath the picture are written the words which the old man is speaking to the boy. They are simple words, yet they represent a profound sense of faith and hope. The words are, "Hush child, God ain't dead!" The man or woman of faith knows that there are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about their situations. Today's gospel presents us with another example, that of a woman of faith, a widow, and urges us never to grow hopeless about any situation in which we find ourselves, no matter how hopeless it may seem.

In ancient Jewish society a woman depended on her husband for sustenance and social status. To lose a husband meant to be poor and defenceless, especially where the widow had no grownup son. That was as close to a hopeless situation as one could ever get. The greatness of the widow in the parable lies in her refusal to accept the oppressive and abusive situation in which she found herself in the pretext that "That's the way things are." Some other less courageous, pious woman would even have told her to submit to the oppression as being God's will. But she knew better. She kept her hope in final justice alive and did everything in her power to right the wrongs inflicted on her by her oppressive neighbours. Finally her dogged determination paid off and she was vindicated. There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about their situations.

Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl; / The one was wise, and a cheery soul.
The other one took a gloomy view / And bade his friend a sad adieu.

Said the other frog with a merry grin, / "I can't get out, but I won't give in;
I'll swim around till my strength is spent, / Then I will die the more content."

And as he swam, though ever it seemed, / His struggling began to churn the cream
Until on top of pure butter he stopped, / And out of the bowl he quickly hopped.

The early Christians found themselves in such an apparently hopeless predicament. Soon after Jesus left them they found themselves persecuted and oppressed by the Jewish religious hierarchy. What encouraged them to endure the persecution was their belief that the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus was soon to take place. They believed it would coincide with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. But when in AD 70 Jerusalem fell and the Temple was destroyed yet Jesus was nowhere to be seen, the Christians found themselves in a big crisis of faith. Have they hoped in vain? Will the Lord ever come back to reestablish justice, to vindicate the innocent and put their enemies to shame? Should they continue hoping and resisting the injustice of their oppressors or should they just join them since they can't beat them? In other words, the early Christians found themselves in the situation of this widow who, without her husband, her lord, had to wage a campaign of passive resistance against injustice and oppression without knowing when it might come to an end. That is why the parable ends with the words of reassurance and a probing question:

And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:7-8)

The practical implication of the parable for daily Christian living is given, namely that we "ought always to pray and not lose heart" (verse 1). Prayer expresses our hope and nourishes our faith. Let us ask God today to make us strong in our faith, unwavering in our hope, and persistent in our prayer.

There are two categories of members in the church, the clergy and the laity. Usually we think that it is the role of the clergy to teach, and that of the laity to learn. Many lay people spend their entire lives learning the word of God and never think of teaching or sharing it. Many ordained people spend their lives teaching, forgetting that they too are called to be lifelong learners or students of God's word. In today's second reading from 2 Timothy, we are reminded that, clergy or laity, all of us are called to be learners and teachers of the word of God.

Today's second reading can be divided into three sections: an opening section (2 Timothy 3:14-15) focussing on learning, a closing section (4:1-2) focussing on teaching, and a middle section (3:16-17) focussing on the importance of Scripture. This is a way of saying two things: (a) that Scripture is useful for both learning and teaching the Word of God, and (b) that in order to go from a life of learning to a life of teaching the faith, one needs to go through the Scriptures.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

In the first section we see that learning, like charity, begins at home. Timothy began learning the faith from childhood. His teachers were his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice (2 Tim 1:5) and later, the apostle Paul (2 Tim 1:13). The teaching that parents give to children is most important because it is the foundation for life. As the book of Proverbs says, "Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray" (Proverbs 22:6). Secondly, we see that faith learning should be based on the Scriptures, which are "able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." Sometimes parents teach children fables which they abandon as soon as they begin to think for themselves because such fables are not founded on the Word of God. Thirdly, we see that learning and faith go together. Learning is the sure foundation for a strong faith. Timothy had a strong faith because he was well instructed in the faith.

I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. (2 Tim 4:1-2)

This section of the passage dwells on the importance of teaching. We are solemnly urged to proclaim the message at all times, "whether the time is favourable or unfavourable." This reminds us of the saying of St. Francis of Assisi, "Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary." We preach with our lives and lifestyles. Our lives are the only Bibles some of our neighbours will ever read. We preach at all times with our lives; we use words only when necessary. Moreover, we see that proclaiming the message takes different forms depending on the situation. We may aim to convince the doubtful, to rebuke the deceitful, to encourage the weak, and to instruct the ignorance, always with patience.

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Bad teachers tell people what to do without telling them how to do it. Paul is a good teacher. He tells us what to do and how to do it. Having told us how important it is for us as Christians to be learners as well as teachers, he now tells us how to do it: namely, with the help of the Scriptures. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching as well as for learning how to live the godly life. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ, as St. Jerome tells us. Let us take our Christian life to the next level today by resolving to listen to the Word of God and share it with others more than we have ever done.

By Bishop Kasomo Daniel PhD; D.Sc.

The Catholic Bishop of The Society of St. Peter and Paul (SSPP)