by Fr Pius Magagula
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A poor widow cannot stand up to her enemy. Let us bring our attention to these two nouns:- poor +widow. We start with the latter :- widow, she has no leg to stand on, she has lost a companion. And, in our Swazi culture, she only deserves a sleeping mat to sit on, she does not deserve a chair. She deserves all the disadvantages of life. Two, she is poor, she is not eligible to have her voice heard.
Taking it back to our permissive societies; do we listen to the voice of the poor, marginalised, unmarried ( according to ‘our standards’). The judge according to vss 2,3 turned down her request for justice. In life don’t we sometimes compare our God to this judge? Does He not seem silent when we need Him the most? How do we judge His silence? This quickly drives us to the egg/chick reality. The time/moment of hatching is not rushed. God’s time is the one that we bank on.
The judge does not listen to the widow for sometime but persistence demolishes his ego. For us too, if we remain steadfast, persistent with the one we serve He will answer us at His opportune time. Our downside is; mingling our God with other gods. For an example: if He does not do what I want here and now I will exit the door of the Catholic Church and enter ‘get – rich-quick ministries’.
The underlying question for our Sunday is: Has our God been unfaithful or has our patience been wanting? If the latter is the case let us hold our heads high and remain holding on to the fact that He is trustworthy and faithful. Prayer in essence does not change God’s thought processes but it is geared towards us understanding His will. Quoting our Savior’s words:- ‘when you pray you must say Father your will be done on earth as it is (done) in heaven mt6:10. The disciples impatiently asked Jesus:- good; pure seeds were ploughed; how come the weeds? Let them grow together, they will be weeded out during reaping time.
Which time is that?
Answer:- God’s time. The prevalence of suicides; we want to dictate God’s time. Let us learn to observe and respect His time.
Amen