Daily Gospel Reflection: Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Daily Gospel Reflection: Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Bishop Robert Barron 

November 18, 2023 

Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time 

Gospel: Lk 18:1-8

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? 

*United States Conference of Catholic 

Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, in our Gospel today, Jesus tells his disciples “a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary”—the parable of the insistent and persistent widow. She keeps pressing her demand against the judge, and the judge—who is no saint—finally gives in to her persistence. 

When we rely on our own powers in the spiritual struggle against darkness, hatred, and division, we fail. But when we open ourselves to the infinite power of God and rely on the power of prayer, then the battle goes well. As the Lord says in the parable, “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?” We must channel a power that goes infinitely beyond ourselves if we are to be successful. 

God wants us to persist in asking for his power, his courage, and his strength. This biblical truth is repeated over and over in the Scriptures. Persistent prayer is the key to success in our spiritual combat.