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Contrary to popular belief, the Irish (and I can say this because I’m from Irish stock) do not have a monopoly on stubbornness, but what we have done is that we have polished it into an art form. Stubbornness is not a virtue, but persistence—like the type we find in all three Scripture readings today—can be. Stubbornness is often self-serving, but when we persist in promoting justice, truth, peace, fairness, equality, dignity, and beauty, we are acting like God. And when you act like God, you are bringing about God’s Kingdom here on earth. “May your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Let’s turn to today’s readings.

In the first reading, we hear about the elderly Moses standing on top of a hill. Down in the valley, his soon-to-be replacement, Joshua, is leading the Israelites in battle against their rival, the Amalekites. When Moses’ arms are raised, his troops draw inspiration, and Israel prevails against the enemy. When his arms grow tired and droop to his sides, the enemy prevails. Moses knows this. He wants to persevere, but as the battle drags on, he’s growing weaker. So, Aaron and Hur hold up Moses’ arms until Joshua defeats the enemy. Isn’t that the case in our own lives? Sometimes we want to persevere in what we feel is right but wonder where we will get the strength from. In my own life, usually unsolicited because I’m too proud to ask for help, help does arrive, and I’m able to carry on. There always seems to be an Aaron or a Hur, who appear when I need them most, and say, “Don’t get discouraged. Keep going; you are making a difference.”

The second reading is a letter Paul writes to his apprentice, Timothy. Paul is languishing in prison in Rome. Like Moses of old, Paul is also coming to the end of his life. We know Paul is at the end of his life, because this letter to Timothy continues in next Sunday’s reading, when he writes, “The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, and I have finished the race.” Despite it all, he tells Timothy to hang in there, to keep going, “Be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable.” In other words, persist in your faith on the days when it’s easy to do so and especially on days when you feel like walking away from the whole thing. 

Lastly, we get to the gospel, the classic story of the persistent widow. Remember, widows in Biblical times were among the poorest and powerless people around. 

On first hearing the story of the widow and the judge, our minds might straight away think of God as being the judge in the story, after all, God is the Supreme Judge of all. If that’s the case, then maybe this story is urging us, like the widow, to be similarly persistent in prayer and not give up. That could be one interpretation since the opening line of today’s gospel starts with: Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 

If God is, indeed, the judge in this story, then maybe all we need to do is wear God down until we get our way. If you can’t wear God down with your persistent prayers, then here’s a suggestion. Hire an old hag with curlers in her hair and a rolling pin in her hand, and you will be all set. (Personally, I’ve found lots of success using the Internet!) Who needs and Aaron and Hur holding up your arms when you’ve got an old hag on your side! It would be like having the best defense lawyer possible, a dog whose bite is as bad as its bark.

A more fruitful way of thinking about this gospel is to see the widow as the image of God, not the judge. When the widow is seen as the God-like figure, the parable becomes crystal clear. It’s always helpful, from time to time, to revisit your image of God. The Bible tells us nothing about God being bought off with favors nor won over by threats. Instead, over and over, we hear about God who listens to the cry of the poor and who is willing to give to those who simply ask. The parable is not about strategies to wear down a reluctant God with non-stop prayer or threats. It’s about seeking and working for justice. The powerless widow in today’s gospel cries, “Grant me justice.”

Whenever we persistently seek justice, we are acting like God. When we lend our voice to the voiceless, when we lend whatever little power we have to the powerless, when we hold self-serving politician’s feet to the fire, when we uncover corporate greed and corruption, when we fight for affordable housing and decent living conditions, when we protect children from harm, when we stop saying “not in my backyard,” and when we break down any barriers between people, we are acting like the widow. More importantly, we are acting like God. 

Only thing is, it’s hard to do alone. Paul told Timothy in that second reading, “All Scripture is inspired by God.” What Paul didn’t know was what an inspiration his life was to Timothy. Paul couldn’t do much languishing in prison, but he could still write inspiring words to Timothy who had his whole life ahead of him. We see it in someone, we feel inspired, and we do our best to live it.

A black man and his family were traveling through the South in the 1950s. They stopped to rest a few moments at a park along the highway. His daughters spotted a swing set on a playground in the park and pulled their father toward the swing. They were too young to read the sign that warned that this playground was for “whites only.” Sadly, but patiently, the man told his daughters that they could not play there and explained why. This was their first encounter with racism, and they burst into tears. So, much as his mother had done for him when he was a child, the man gathered his children into a warm embrace and said to them, “Listen, you little girls are somebody. In fact, you are so important and so valuable to God and so powerful that it takes the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the entire state police to keep you girls off those swings.” (One day because of another widow named Rosa Parks would persist, those girls would grow up and see justice done and the signs taken down and God would be present).

Fr. Phil Mulligan