No audio this week, as I was in Boston for the Catholic New Media Conference
One of the greatest virtues in our country is the belief in the power of persistence. We believe that if you persist in your goals, you can succeed in those goals. A business owner who persists in building and growing his business will have a successful business. Someone who plays sports and develops his or her skills and abilities will succeed in those sports. As a whole, we generally believe that if you set a goal, persist in working towards that goal, and you will achieve success despite any setbacks you face along the way.
In our Gospel today, Our Lord makes it clear that persistence is needed if we wish to enter into His salvation. We see this in the parable of the widow and dishonest judge. In the parable, we’re shown the widow who persists in seeking a just verdict against her adversary, and the judge to gives in to the persistence of the widow. As Our Lord says, “Will not God then secure the rights of His chosen ones who call out to Him day and night? … He will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.”
We all have prayers that we want God to answer. Perhaps we’re seeking healings for others, or a solution to problems in our lives. Maybe the prayers are just personal requests for God’s assistance in events and for people in our lives. For whatever the reason, it’s good to turn to God in prayer when we’re asked to pray for someone, but it’s even better and has greater advantage to us when we persist in regularly praying for them.
Persistence is so important in prayer because the spiritual life is an on-going journey throughout our lives, not a single step at one point in our lives. If we wish to reach the end goal of the spiritual life, which is entrance into Heaven, we need to persist in taking that journey one step at a time. If we allow ourselves to weary of the journey, and stop persisting in the spiritual life, we will never reach the goal of eternal life.
The problem is that too many Catholics have wearied from the journey. They’ve given up on the journey, either by quitting altogether, or by trying to find shortcuts in the spiritual life and been led astray from the path. As Christians seeking to be faithful to Our Lord, we need to reach out to those who have given up on the spiritual journey. St. Paul encourages us, “proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.”
At the same time, we also need to assist each other that we might not become wearied from the journey. We need to support each other as Moses was supported by Aaron and Hur in the first reading: “As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight … Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady until sunset.”
One reason why Christianity is not a private “me and Jesus” religion is due to the importance of the Christian community in strengthening and supporting each other. As a community, we need to be reaching out to each individual to provide support and encouragement, helping each other persevere in the spiritual life so that we might not grow weary and will not give up on the journey.
Jesus has shown us that the goal of our spiritual journey is eternal life in Heaven. May we persist, and help others from becoming weary, until we all reach that goal.
