Weekly thoughts on the Sunday Gospel, readings or a topic...

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seeing your life through the lens of the gospels – Luke 18:1-8
1. The purpose of prayer is not to change God’s mind, but to change ourselves – and we can be slow to move. When have you found that persistence in prayer strengthened your faith in the presence of God with you in that struggle?
2. The context of the story may be a concern about the delay in the final coming of the Lord. Have there been times when your persistence in prayer, or action, was eventually rewarded after a period when you had doubts about the outcome? What were the fruits of your persistent prayer?
3. Behind the story lies the final question of Jesus: Who does have faith? Who have been models of faith and trust in God for you? How has that trust been shown in their lives? How is it shown in yours?  
– John Byrne, OSA

The Deep End
On the face of it, today’s Gospel is a parable about perseverance: if even a corrupt judge will give in to persistent ‘pestering’, how much more will God answer our prayers when we pray continually? We can only imagine the help God makes available to those who ask him. Don’t lose heart, Jesus tells us. Your prayers will be answered.
But there is a sting in the tail, and Jesus also has a challenge for his followers. Almost as an after-thought, he poses a question: ‘But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?’ The real question is not whether our prayer can move God. Jesus turns this question on its head and asks instead: can our prayer move us?
Does our faith spur us into action? The widow in the parable is seeking justice, and she refuses to stop fighting until it is granted. We cannot ask God for what we want or need, and then sit back and expect it to happen. That is not faith. Our prayer life goes hand in hand with our willingness to fight for what is right, to live as Jesus asks us to. We are part of the process!  – Tríona Doherty

(from Intercom)