Daily Reflection Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious

As I’ve done before, I’m going to talk about the gospel passage of tomorrow’s liturgy because today’s is rather impossible (plus, I’ve spoken on it before). Saturday’s passage opens Luke 18 with the parable of the corrupt judge. That and the healing of the blind man in Jericho (Bartimaeus in Mark) are the only parts of Luke 18 we visit in the liturgy this year (Monday is Bartimaeus), which is a shame. Luke 18 also contains the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector praying in the temple, Jesus blessing the children, the story of the Rich Young Man, and Jesus’ third and final prediction of his passion and resurrection.

The parable of the corrupt judge, assuredly not on the list of the top five most endearing parables, begins with a rare aside as to the purpose of the parable (“the need to pray always and not to lose heart”). The widow represents the one who prays always (her pleadings with the judge), but unfortunately God seems to somehow get identified with the corrupt judge who we then have to beg incessantly in order to get what we want. I say unfortunately because many people do believe that the purpose of prayer is to somehow convince God of something or change God’s mind.

We should stop and admit to ourselves, if we haven’t already, that we have no idea how prayer works. We believe that it does indeed “work,” we just have no idea how because we also don’t know how God works in the world. Oh, we often think we do, but I feel It is a mistake to assume that “this” is the result of prayer (“this” is how God is working in the world), while also assuming that something else is not. We just never know. Sometimes the worst seeming tragedies bear great fruit.

If you pray for health and get sickness, does that mean that God has rejected your prayer? Isn’t a better explanation to say that you are simply praying wrongly (perhaps selfishly)? A prayer that can never be wrong is to pray (as we do in the Lord’s prayer), “Thy will be done.” That is a prayer of faith because it puts everything in God’s hands and seeks to trust fully in God. It does not insist on one thing verses another. It is not based in any fear. It does not attempt to create outcomes of any sort. It trusts only in God’s love and mercy. It is a prayer that says, “Loving God, I seek to accept everything that happens to me today and I seek to find you in it all as well as in everyone I meet today. Help me not to be afraid. Give me the grace to meet it all with your love. Thank you for giving me all I need and for being with us all this day.”