Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Insistent Prayer
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. This short excerpt from the Third Letter of John gratefully acknowledges that the community leader Gaius showed hospitality and helped itinerant preachers of the gospel.
Gospel. Luke must have had in mind those who pray and think that God does not act when they beg him. Jesus also speaks with an eschatological tone: the delay in the coming of the kingdom should not discourage us. In any case, our prayer should be trustful and insistent.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
we know that you are our loving Father,
that you wait for us
and that you are attentive to us
every moment of our lives.
Let then our prayer come to you
as a breath of hope and a cry of trust
coming from the poverty of our hearts.
If you have to turn us down
when we ask for harmful or useless things,
give us what we really need
and keep our trust alive
that you are good and loving
for you love us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called us through the Gospel,
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus told them a parable to illustrate that they should pray constantly and not lose heart.
He said:
“In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about people.
In the same town, there was a widow who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Defend my rights against my adversary!’
For a while, he refused, but finally he thought, ‘Even though I neither fear God nor care about people,
this widow damages my reputation, so I will see that she gets justice; then she will stop coming and wear me out.”
And Jesus said:
“Listen to what the evil judge says.
Will God not do justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night, even if he delays in answering?
I tell you, he will quickly do justice for them. But, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Prayers of the Faithful
– For ministers in the Church, that they may be men and women of prayer mindful of the Lord’s words, “Without me you can do nothing,” we pray:
– For all who seek God, that they may enter into a dialogue with God by praying from the heart how they can live their Christian life, we pray:
– For all Christians, that our prayers for the poor and the suffering may commit them more to bringing them justice, lightening their burdens and restoring their dignity, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
you cannot resist our prayer
if we have full trust in you.
Let the Holy Spirit here among us
prompt us to pray trustingly and insistently.
Let him cry out in our hearts
and call you our Father.
through him who offers himself and us to you,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
with Jesus we have raised our hands
in prayer to you, our living God.
With Jesus we keep trusting in you.
Hear us, then, even in our pains and struggles,
when we are disappointed and grope in the dark.
For we believe that you love us
and want us to find happiness
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
We should keep in mind that prayer is not just asking for favours for each of us personally but, aside from praise and thanks to God, an intercession for the good of others, of the community. The more reason why it should be insistent! May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Converse with the One who walks with us
Luke 18:1-8
The gospel promises that "God will grant justice to those who cry to him day and night" (cf. Luke 18:7). This is the mystery of prayer: to keep on crying out, not to lose heart, and to keep our hands raised in prayer to God. This is the model of prayer that Jesus gives us in the Gospels. To pray is to struggle.
Prayer is an indispensable condition to live one’s mission in full. It is the primary source of power for the proclamation of the Gospel. Followers of Jesus are called to be men and women of prayer who nourish faith in an enduring bond with the Lord.
A widow’s insistent pleading with a dishonest judge succeeds in obtaining justice from him. In Jesus' words, if the widow was able to convince the judge, how much more will God listen to us when we make our requests with persistence?
“Crying day and night” to God! This image of prayer is so striking, but we ask ourselves: Why does God want this? Doesn’t he already know what we need? What does it mean to “insist” with God?
God invites us to pray insistently, not because he is unaware of our needs. On the contrary, our constant prayer keeps us aware of a God who walks with us and never leaves us alone. Good friends who walk together do not remain silent; rather, they talk. Our prayer is our conversation with the One who walks with us. Therefore, pray always, but not in order to convince the Lord of our desires! He knows our needs better than we do! Indeed, persevering prayer is the expression of faith in God, who calls us to fight with him to conquer evil with good.
Pope Francis thus explains the Gospel: “Let us learn from the widow of the Gospel to pray always without growing weary. This widow was very good! Think of the many women who fight for their families, who pray and never grow weary. Today, remember these women who, by their attitude, provide us with a true witness of faith, courage, and a model of prayer.”