This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
You have to love Jesus’ judge in the Gospel parable. “Lest she finally come and strike me.” This guy is afraid of a little old widow coming and bludgeoning him. So, he helps her even when he doesn’t feel like it.
The image is even funnier when we see that Jesus is comparing this judge to Almighty, Omniscient, All-loving God. But the hyperbolic image is poignant precisely because of the chasm of contrast that separates the nature of this small-spirited judge and the grandiose magnanimity of our God.
We wouldn’t expect much of the judge in the parable. But if harried enough, we can expect even him to act. How much more, then, can we expect indulgence from our loving God if we come to Him insistently with our requests!
Jesus’ image points out how utterly absurd it is to fail to trust that God will fail to respond to our insistent, repeated requests. Yet how weak our trust is. We think of God as an arrogant, aloof judge who is too lofty and wise to spare time for our petty concerns, and is actually annoyed when we pester Him with them. And it is precisely this image of God at which Jesus takes aim in today’s parable–it is precisely this image that he successfully obliterates.
Mother Teresa’s work for the poor was an eloquent testimony of the goodness of God, of His concern for every human. It is not just to lawyers in suits that this good Judge will attend. He cares about the needs of every miserable creature Mother Teresa and her nuns have scraped off the streets, whether or not these poor persons knew to ask Him for help. And Mother Teresa’s nuns successfully channel His love to these souls.
Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity do not discriminate when they give aid on the basis of religion. Many of those receiving their aid are not Christian. But St. John’s letter today points out that it is also not wrong to give aid to Christians because they are Christian. There are two reasons to single out Christians and Christian causes for charity: 1) Faithful Christians in themselves become works of charity, inasmuch as their faithfulness in and of itself draws grace down from Heaven on others; and 2) Christian faith is radical and often rejected in the world, and as such Christians are particularly vulnerable. As Jesus Himself said, “And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple—amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.” (Mt. 10:42)
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: We are called to trust in God’s detailed attention to our needs, His response to our prayers, and His openness for us to pray insistently even for the same needs day after day. We are also called, as St. John reminds us in his letter today, to reflect that divine benevolence in our attention to others, and in particular to care for the needs of Christians.
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