November 16, 2024 (on the boat)

Luke 18:1-8

Today’s reading is about praying without ceasing and without giving up. As we set our minds and hearts towards God, towards Jesus, we are reminded that prayer is never finished. We keep coming back to prayer throughout the day and night. This is not like setting a radio or TV to a certain station and then broadcasting nonstop without interruptions. Rather, we keep returning to remembering God, as we do in centering prayer. Keep coming back to being aware of the presence of God. This means we don’t just do morning prayers and then put God on a shelf for the rest of the day while we go about our work and diversions. Rather, once we orient to God above all, so too are our ordinary activities reoriented to the sacred. In this way, our ordinary lives come to participate in God. 

In this reading, Jesus compares our heartfelt calling out to God day and night to a poor widow who importunes a dishonest judge over and over again until he relents and renders a just decision for her. Just so, Jesus says, to those who call out to God day and night, he will respond in good time, with justice. 

But Jesus issues a challenge: when he comes, will he find faith on earth? Does he in fact find faith on earth?  Or have we given ourselves a pass on praying without ceasing?