Gospel Reflection on Luke 18:1-8

October 19, 2025

And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 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?”

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On one of our retreats, we were given a saying, "fear not, you are inadequate." There's a lot of truth in that little saying, but there's also a danger.

First the truth.

Whether you're a teacher, parent, priest, advocate, friend, they're always times when we come face-to-face with our helplessness. Times like that, it's important to remember

that God alone is adequate, that we are not God, and God is more a parent, more a teacher, more a priest, more an advocate, more a friend than I could ever be. We should know this,

but our history of needlessly worrying, being angry, being overly sub-important, chronically over-exceeding ourselves. Here's ample testimony that we forget, that God is the real parent. We are the instruments.

But there's also a danger in that story, since we're inadequate, there's a temptation to just think about, not even to try.

The story of the lazy judge and the persistent widow is the story of the interior struggle

with any triumphance. We're poor and vulnerable like the widow, but there's a noble spirit inside of us, which she has, who knows that our existence is not a mistake, that we are profoundly important.

But there's also a superficial spirit, a lazy judge who just wants to get by, and within us there's a battle between the profound and superficial.

Maybe the real parent, the real teacher, the real friend, but God, because of the incarnation,

because God has taken flesh, has tied God's divine power to human hands.

Nobody can stop us from trying. That's why prayer is so important.

Healthy prayer is two things. It connects us to God and links us to God's divine energy, and it reminds us that we are not God.

At the same time, it separates us from God, and making clear that we're only human.

The good prayer life saves us from depression, even as it separates us from God, it saves us from pride and self-righteousness. If we don't pray, we're either going to be following the depression or a kind of adolescent self-importance.

Either there's a lack of connection to God, or there's an over-identification of God.

Accepting our inadequacy can help bring us to prayer.

"Fear not, you are inadequate."

To accept the truth of that is to make a little prayer. It's both humbling and uplifting.

When we're overly discouraged, it's because we've forgotten that truth. When we're full of pride, it's for the same reason.

In the Gospel of the widow was tenacious, "give me justice against my adversary."

This woman knows two things. She deserves justice, and there's someone who opposes her right to justice.

Prayer remains alive if we remember it's our duty to live the truth.

We remain true to prayer if we do not forget we're going to have love in our hearts

and do something worthwhile with our lives.