Daily Gospel Reflection for October 20, 2019 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Gospel: Luke 18:1-8 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time This is such a great Gospel reading. Can’t you almost hear the exasperation in the judge’s voice? “If this woman would just leave me alone! Who cares what I believe, I’ll give her a just decision so that she’ll get off my back!” Jesus’s parables are all good, of course, but I think this one is particularly excellent because He describes a situation we can all relate to. There has been at least once in everyone’s life where we have done something, not because we wanted to, but because if we did it would get rid of some annoyance. That annoyance could have been a person, a work problem, a cleaning problem, a weight problem, pain problem, etc. Something bothered us, or interfered with our life, so we did something about it to make it go away. It could have been as simple as writing an extra report or policy, making a dinner that pleased the kids which wasn’t your favorite, or stopping a project to remove a nagging splinter. For others, a little more persistence might have been needed, and that’s what Jesus is getting at here. Maybe you needed to accept physical therapy for a shoulder injury, perhaps you had to change your diet or start exercising regularly to improve your health, or you had to become disciplined about cleaning the pantry/kitchen because you found a fruit fly infestation. A new habit or set of habits was needed. Here we find Jesus’ true meaning. Prayer isn’t a one-time thing. The widow teaches us the importance of persistent, consistent prayer. In other words, a habit of prayer. If it means that much to us, we are going to do it often. Jesus’ challenge is to consider just how much we value prayer and how persistent we are in our conversation with God.

Ponder:

Do you ask God for a request with persistence, trusting He will answer in His timing?

Pray:

Dear Jesus, please give me the desire to pray more often. Help me to see the opportunities for prayer I am missing and strengthen my resolve to deepen my relationship with You through prayer.