FIRST READING
We ought to support the brethren, that we may be fellow workers in the truth.
A reading from the third Letter of Saint John (3 John 5-8)
Beloved [Gaius], it is a loyal thing you do when you render any service to the brethren, especially to strangers, who have testified to your love before the Church. You will do well to send them on their journey as befits God’s service. For they have set out for his sake and have accepted nothing from the heathen. So we ought to support such men, that we may be fellow workers in the truth.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 112: lb-2.3-4.5-6 (R. lb)
R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
Or: Alleluia.
Blessed the man who fears the Lord,
who takes great delight in his commandments.
His descendants shall be powerful on earth;
the generation of the upright will be blest. R.
Riches and wealth are in his house;
his justice stands firm forever.
A light rises in the darkness for the upright;
he is generous, merciful and just. R.
It goes well for the man who deals generously and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
He will never be moved;
forever shall the just be remembered. R.
ALLELUIA 2 Thessalonians 2:14
Alleluia. God has called us through the Gospel, to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“God will vindicate his elect, who cry to him.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 18:1-8)
At that time: Jesus told his disciples a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ “For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming. ”’ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
The parable of the widow and the judge was told in order to teach perseverance in prayer. People, including Christians, easily give up when their prayers are not given immediate response by God. Some people become bitter, some fainthearted, some even blaspheme and deny God outright. The widow offers an example of insistence and persistence in prayer. In telling this parable Jesus enjoins on us the responsibility of persistently coming to God out of our faith and trust in him. It is not only when we are faced with difficulties and problems that we approach God, but even when things go well.