A Personal Relationship Must Endure

A little over 15 years ago, I was received into the Catholic Church when I was in the 8th grade.  Before then, I had attended Baptist and other churches in the Tyler area.  My experience of Evangelical Christianity that I most appreciate is the constant emphasis of the need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Of course, we as Catholics believe this too and always have believed this (even though our language about prayer life is different).  I think sometimes we shy away from using this kind of language about our faith – our relationship with Christ – because we have scruples of sounding too “Protestant.”  However, the substance of our faith – the motivation of our prayer – is that we believe God is not static (like an uninterested blob in outer space) but that He is essentially personal and relates to us in a personal way.

So, if our relationship with God is personal, what do we make of the “Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge” from last Sunday’s gospel (Luke 18:1-8)?  At first read, this parable seems a bit unkind.  As is often the case in the gospels, our Lord uses extremes to show us how God relates to us personally and how we should respond.  A widow in the ancient world was often powerless and vulnerable.  She represents us who are weak and dependent on God for everything.  Christ, in His intimate knowledge of human nature and in perfect humility, applies the unjust judge to God; He knows that in all times and in all places, people often blame God for the miseries of this life.  Nevertheless, the unjust judge [God] finally listens to the widow [us] and grants her [our] desire.  So, what does this curious parable tell us about a personal relationship with Christ?

We all know that we need to pray and that we need to pray more.  But the reality is that prayer is hard.  Sometimes we feel great about assisting the Mass, going to Eucharistic Holy Hours, praying our rosary — and sometimes the last thing we want to do (or can do) is pray.  We are too busy.  We do not always get what we ask for.  We do not always feel good.  Nevertheless, if we truly consider prayer a part of our relationship with the Lord, we know we need to do it anyway.  Just as constant dialogue is important to a healthy marriage or to a good friendship, so constant dialogue is essential to our most vital relationship — our relationship with God.

Someone might say, “Well, God knows what we need before we ask, so why bother?”  True, but we still need to ask.  Why?  Because prayer helps us clarify our desires, our petitions, our needs.  And sometimes, the answer we get is “No”, so constant prayer helps us to accept when God’s will is not our will.  From what has been gathered from her letters, Blessed [Mother] Teresa of Calcutta experienced almost no consolation from her prayer for almost 50 years, yet she persevered.  Her perseverance in prayer is what kept her focused on her mission and ultimately what made her a saint.  And if we persevere in prayer, God has the power to make us a saint too.  We only have to want it.