Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Or Optional Memorial of Saint Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Luke 18:1-8

Jesus tells us the parable of the unjust judge and the persistent widow. At first glance, the widow’s situation seems hopeless. She has no money, no influence, and no power to demand justice. Yet she has one weapon: persistence. Day after day she pleads her case until even the corrupt judge, weary of her constant appeal, gives her what she asks.

But Jesus does not compare God to this judge; he contrasts them. If a selfish, unjust man can finally give in to persistence, how much more will God, who is a loving Father, hear the cries of his children? Prayer is not about wearing God down; it is about growing in trust and confidence that he knows and gives what is best for us.

Yet here is the challenge: God’s answers do not always come in the way or at the time we expect. Like children, we sometimes ask for things that would harm us, though we cannot see it. Only God sees the whole picture—past, present, and future—and so only he knows what is truly good for us. That is why prayer must always end with the words of Jesus: “Thy will be done.”

Persistence in prayer is not stubbornness; it is faith. It means trusting that God hears us, even in silence. It means refusing to give up, even when delays seem endless. Jesus ends with a haunting question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Our task is to keep the lamp of faith burning, to pray without ceasing, and to surrender all into God’s loving hands.

So let us pray with persistence, but also with humility, asking not only for what we want, but for what God knows we truly need. In this lies the heart of faith

© Claretian Publications, Hong Kong, China
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025