Homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The fruit of silence is prayer
The fruit of prayer is faith
The fruit of faith is love
The fruit of love is service
The fruit of service is peace.

Ever heard this before?  It's from Blessed Mother Theresa and it's called the Simple Path.  Notice the second line; the fruit of prayer is faith.  All through her life, Mother Theresa persevered in prayer.  Even in her more difficult moments, she persevered in prayer.  Remember St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine?  She prayed and prayed for years and years for her son; living a life of un-saintly virtue.  And eventually her prayer was answered and St. Augustine became one of the greatest Saints of the Church.  Ever heard of Immaculee  Ilibigiza?  She survived the Rwandan civil war and genocide by hiding in a small bathroom with seven other women for ninety-one days.  How did she do this?  Prayer!  For all those days, three months in total, she persevered in prayer!

Many of us know a thing or two about perseverance.  We persevere in school, we persevere in our careers, we persevere in reaching for our dreams & goals.

As people of faith, we are called to persevere in prayer; and the fruit of prayer is faith!!!

Jesus teaches us once again by means of a parable with only two characters; an unjust judge and a persistent widow. The judge in this reading would have been a Roman magistrate; a judge for hire. He would be notorious, quick to make a deal or take a bribe. Perhaps this is why even in the parable we hear the judge declare he neither fears God or respects man. The widow is the representative for all those who are poor, defenseless; those who often are taken advantage of. Yet this poor widow is persistent; persistent to the point of the unjust judge giving her what she wants.

And Jesus uses the parable to teach us that His Heavenly Father; our Father, who is rich in justice and mercy, will give us what we need if we persist in prayer. We should be careful here; this is not a bargaining moment nor should we expect the Father to give us only what we want. We have only to look to the example of good parents who certainly would not give a child whatever they ask for; especially if it would lead to their detriment. So it is with God.

And so our prayer life must persevere and our prayers must always conform to the will of the Father. Only God knows what is truly good for us; his children. Only God knows His plan for us in this life and desires to have us share eternal life with Him in the world to come.

How can we persevere in prayer? How can we answer Jesus who asks, will He find faith on earth? We can assess today both the quantity and quality of our prayer life? Do we pray daily? Do we pray throughout the day? Do we actively participate in the shared responses of the prayers of the Mass? Do we promise to pray for someone only to forget to do so?

What about our prayers? Do we bargain with God in prayer? Do we ask for only those things that we want or those things that will make us happy? And are we prepared to follow God’s will in what those answers to the pray will be?  Do we simply just dialogue with God?  Do we offer a prayer at the beginning of our day and the end of the day?

In the week ahead, perhaps each of us can take these questions to prayer. Perhaps each of us can pray with this Gospel passage.  Yes, we can pray with Scripture!  If you or so inclined, read Mother Theresa's Simple Path, or at least learn the formula:

The fruit of silence is prayer
The fruit of prayer is faith
The fruit of faith is love
The fruit of love is service
The fruit of service is peace.

Don't forget the example too of St. Monica and Immaculee Ilibigiza!

Persevere in prayer!!!