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?”
Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading that for those who call out to him day and night, God renders justice speedily. By saying this, Jesus draws a direct connection between constant prayer and speedy justice. In my experience, I know that God hears my prayers, but I wait a long time to see a response to them or any kind of justice as a result of my prayers. What is apparently contradictory, is not contradictory at all. God works in his own time and in his own way, and what seems like an eternity to me is to God like a flash of lightning. God’s time is not my own. I know it must be that his will is accomplished even as I pray but am unable to see results.
God, help me understand and be at peace with how you accomplish justice on earth; that is, how your will is carried out in my life and the world around me. Figuring out your timetable is futile and irrelevant, but learning to trust you and believe that you hear me and act in my life is absolutely vital. “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
God, you sent your Son to every one of us out of love and mercy, and he will come again in glory. These invisible realities I hold in faith; strengthen me through your grace to accept them as truth. Thank you for your goodness, Lord, and let me remember to return to you throughout the day in my prayers, words, and actions. You are my Father in heaven, and I want you to be well pleased with me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
