Like the widow in today’s Gospel (Luke 18:1-8) we too feel the need for justice and to bring our adversaries to justice. Among these adversaries are the unjust practices and structures of our society today.

In the parable, the widow kept “pestering” the judge for justice until he acted on her pleas. Does it seem that your pleas to God are to no avail? Do you wonder when the just judge will bring about justice for his chosen ones?

Given the context of the Gospel, other important questions must be: “How persistent are we prepared to be in seeking what is right and just, and what is it that drives us?”

If we seek after justice – which, incidentally, is not to be confused with revenge – then we must have a deep sense of what justice requires. How just are we? It seems that the more just we are, the more likely we are to seek after justice for others and ourselves.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbour” (art. 1807). The widow, in the parable Jesus relates, clearly has a strong sense of what justice demands.

That “internal justice” which involves God and his grace in us is what ultimately moves us to influence societal structures.

Our limited understanding of God and sometimes, selfish nature can easily restrict the work of justice or cause us to abort the task. To be just is a gift or grace of God that he extends to us so we can fulfil his mission in the world.

Sometimes we can end up telling God how he should bring about the justice and then. “Why isn’t God answering my prayers and pleadings,” is the accustomed cry.

Jesus teaches us by means of this Sunday’s parable that faith – a recurring theme over the last two Sundays – has particular bearing upon justice. Here, justice is linked with faith.

And perseverance or persistence is necessary for both. Indeed, Jesus’ words make perseverance almost synonymous with faith. After promising his disciples that justice will be done, he wonders, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
God wants us to have and exercise faith in him.

We plead for divine justice but God will use us as instruments of justice, according to God’s principles of justice - now, later, or not at all. Faith requires trust and confidence in God, to the point that when we feel like Jesus on the cross and say from the depths of our souls “My God, my God why have you forsaken me” we, like our Saviour, trust even more and persevere to the end.

It should be seen that our pleas and petitions must be accompanied by prayer that seeks “to let go and let God”. It is the way to inner peace amid the adversaries that must be faced.

In Romans 5:1-5 we read, “Having been made just by faith, we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our lord. Through him we obtain this favour in which we remain and we even rejoice in the expectation of sharing the Glory of God. Not only that, we feel secure even in trials, knowing that trials produce patience, from patience comes merit and that merit is the source of hope.”

Father in heaven, teach us, show us how to grow ever more faithful to you, in Jesus, so that in your timing, your will be done as it is in heaven, Amen.

Gospel Meditations for the month of October are by Richard Gomez, a teacher at Sacred Heart Boys’ and a lay minister of the Cathedral/Sacred Heart parish.