Are you supporting those doing missionary work? You should be. St. John exhorts us to do that in our first reading today from 3 John:5-8. He says of those doing missionary work that “we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth.”
In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 18, Jesus tells a story about the importance of persistence in prayer. He tells the story of a wicked judge who is badgered by a widow to render a decision. After some time, he does so, only because of the widow’s persistence. Jesus ends the story with a question. He asks, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
I’m sure that everyone who professes to be a Christian would answer Jesus’ question in the affirmative. Yes, Lord! I have faith! But I have to ask myself if the kind of faith that I have is really enough. Is it the kind of faith that Jesus expects? I worry and I waffle about so many things. What if Jesus decides to come back on one of my waffling days? Also, will Jesus be looking for degrees of faith? Maybe the more we recognize how much God has given us, the greater our faith should be. Whatever the criteria, I think it would do us well to constantly strengthen our faith and our persistence in prayer.
Father, show us those places in our lives where we need to increase our faith. Keep us ever vigilant in prayer as we await the coming of the Lord. Amen.
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