Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
At that time,
Jesus told his disciples a parable
on the need for them
to always pray without being discouraged:
"There was in a city
a judge who did not fear God
and did not respect men.
In this same city,
There was a widow who came to ask him:
'Give me justice against my adversary.'
For a long time he refused;
then he said to himself:
'Even though I don't fear God
and respects no one,
as this widow begins to bore me,
I will do him justice
so that she doesn't keep coming to knock me out all the time.'
The Lord added:
“Listen carefully to what this unjust judge says!
And God would not do justice to his elect,
who cry to him day and night?
Is he making them wait?
I declare to you:
He will do them justice very quickly.
However, the Son of Man,
when he comes,
will he find faith on earth?
– Let us acclaim the Word of God.
Pray without tiring and receive justice: the promise kept
Read The Importunate Widow to unite perseverance, active faith and the desire for justice
The parable of the importunate widow (Luke 18:1-8) teaches us to pray without becoming discouraged, with a boldness that is neither passivity nor impatience. It promises that God will do justice to his elect who cry out to him, while posing a decisive question: when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? This article is addressed to those who wish to integrate perseverance into their spiritual, family, and social lives, to link prayer to the humble struggle for justice, without confusion or bitterness.
- Context: situate the extract, its purpose, its key images and its liturgical use.
- Analysis: the a fortiori argument and the tension between delay and fidelity.
- Axes: perseverance of the heart; justice of God vs. human justice; cry of the poor.
- Applications: personal, family, parish, professional and civic life.
- Prayer, guided practice, current challenges, practice sheet and solid references.
Common thread
Persevering prayer is not a pressure on God, but a patient openness to his coming justice, which begins in us by active faith.
Caption: A marker of intention so as not to reduce the parable to a technique of spiritual “forcing”.
Context
Luke places this parable immediately after words about the coming of the Son of Man and the last days (Luke 17). In contrast to eschatological impatience, Jesus “told his disciples a parable about the need for them to pray always and not lose heart.” The introduction provides the key to reading it: it is less a matter of detailing a protocol for granting prayers than of rooting an attitude—constancy, courage, confidence.
The frame is stripped: a city, a judge “who neither feared God nor respected man,” and a widow, a biblical figure of legal and economic vulnerability. She has neither alliances nor leverage. Her only resource is her repeated request: “Give me justice against my adversary.” The judge refuses “for a long time,” then gives in for fear of being “knocked out”—literally “wearied, bothered excessively.”
Jesus comments: “Listen carefully to what this unjust judge says!” Then comes the decisive argument: “And would not God bring justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night?” The verb “cry out” evokes the prayer of the poor, the oppressed, the martyrs. It is not a formality, but the expression of a wounded heart that surrenders itself to God without evasion.
The Alleluia proposed by the liturgy (“The word of God is living and effective; it judges the intentions and thoughts of the heart.” cf. Heb 4:12) adds a hermeneutic relief: the Word crosses appearances, weighs intentions. Here, it examines our motives for praying: are you seeking God’s justice or your immediate victory? Do you accept that his justice converts you at the same time as it helps you?
The promise is clear: “I tell you, he will avenge them quickly.” But the clause is jarring: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” This is the test of time. Between today and the “quickly,” faith remains. To pray without tiring is to go through this delay without bitterness, allowing God’s justice to mature within and around us.
exegetical benchmarks
- Widow: a vulnerable legal figure, dependent on an honest judge.
- Unjust judge: counter-model; God is not comparable to him.
- “Do justice”: restore law and peace, not revenge.
- “Cry out day and night”: prayer of the poor, persevering and true.
- “Very quickly”: divine promptness, not always chronological immediacy.
Caption: Five keys to reading without misinterpretation or simplification.
Analysis
The rhetorical architecture is based on the a fortiori: If a lawless judge ends up rendering justice through persistence, how much more will God, just and merciful, respond to the cry of his chosen ones. Perseverance is not a fool's bargain: it is addressed to a good God. Any interpretation that would make God a despot to be bent contradicts the heart of the text.
Two tensions structure the whole. First, delay vs. promise: “Does he make them wait? I tell you, he will avenge them quickly.” The “quickly” is theological before being chronological: God does not forget, he acts appropriately and profoundly. Faith inhabits this gap, not as resignation, but as a creative availability in God’s time. Then, interiority vs. effectiveness: God’s justice is no less real because it begins in the heart; it then overflows into acts, relationships, communities, institutions.
The figure of the widow translates the fragile strength of prayer: no victim stance, but a lucid and constant demand. She does not insult, she demands the law. Her simple, repeated words produce a transformation—not moral in the judge, but procedural: the law is finally applied. Jesus signals that between institutional cynicism and trusting faith, humble insistence opens a passage.
The final question (“Will he find faith?”) refocuses the issue. The goal of perseverance is not fulfillment as a trophy, but faith tested as a living relationship. This is not less justice; it is more: the justice of God that heals the roots, restores the bonds, and reconnects our desire to his.
A fortiori diagram
A. Worst case: An unfair judge eventually gives in.
B. All the more so: the just God responds to the cry of his own.
C. Conclusion: Perseverance is reasonable because God is good.
Caption: The logical thread that supports the promise.
Living the perseverance of the heart
Christian perseverance is not a stiffness, but a fidelity that breathes. To pray “day and night” does not mean to exhaust oneself with formulas; it means to bring the world before God, with constancy, accepting the alternation of the hours. The widow does not abandon her cause; she presents it each day in the light of the law. Our prayer gains in density when it crosses time, distractions, the seasons of the soul.
To persevere is first to consent to be poor before God: recognize that I have no leverage over his decisions, but that I have access to his heart. This poverty is a strength, because it removes blackmail, comparison, pride. The widow does not manipulate; she sticks to the law. Prayer then becomes the place where the truth is spoken without disguise, where motives are clarified, where anger calms down into righteous desire.
In perseverance there is an apprenticeship in rhythm: alternate between request, silence, action, and praise; articulate speech and listening; return to the biblical text to readjust the course. Repetition is not empty repetition if it re-centers us: it creates a furrow. Thus, a short prayer, repeated three times a day, can shape the entire day. This “sacrifice of praise” protects against bitterness, opens us to patience, and strengthens vigilance: do not give in to resignation, do not sink into agitation.
Finally, perseverance protects freedom. He who perseveres prays to receive God's justice rather than to impose his own scenario. This openness does not extinguish boldness, it purifies it. One can and must ask for concrete things; but one exposes them under the gaze of the One who sees further. Faith, here, is not an accessory to the request; it is its active truth.
Practice of perseverance
- A clear intention, named without hesitation.
- A stable rhythm (morning/evening).
- A pivotal verse (Lk 18:7) memorized.
- One concrete act of justice per week.
Caption: Four supports to keep perseverance alive.
Welcoming God's justice, discerning human justice
“Doing justice” in the Bible involves more than settling a dispute: it is restoring a just relationship, healing wounds, protecting the weak. God does not simply “arbitrate,” he recreates. Divine justice is not arbitrary; it is faithful to the covenant. When Jesus promises that God will bring justice to his elect, he is saying that the Father will join the cry of his own, not to validate vengeance, but to restore truth.
Human justice, necessary and desirable, remains fragile without the light of God. The judge in the parable has neither fear of God nor respect for men: he illustrates a system which, left to itself, ends up giving way not out of love for the law, but out of fatigue. Jesus does not condemn the procedure, he reveals its inadequacy when the heart is absent. Hence two criteria for discernment: the orientation towards the protection of the vulnerable and openness to the truth which costs.
To receive God's justice is to accept that it passes through meI ask for justice “against the adversary,” but the Word “judges the intentions and thoughts of the heart.” If my request becomes an occasion for conversion, justice will already begin. Where I was looking for victory, God offers a profound truth: to reconcile, to repair, to do a just act. Sometimes, God’s justice will allow me to wait for a propitious time; sometimes, to speak; sometimes, to remain silent so as not to fuel evil.
There is no opposition, but hierarchy: legal justice must open itself to evangelical justice, which purifies and completes it. A Christian can and must use legal means, but without idolizing the means. The widow goes to the judge, she does not organize a lynching. She rejects fatalism, but she also rejects violence. Thus, prayer and action are articulated: crying out to God, acting righteously, enduring times of waiting, and welcoming advances as seeds of the Kingdom.
Two confusions to avoid
- Confusing justice with personal revenge.
- Confusing God's promptness with immediacy without maturation.
Caption: A double safeguard for correct prayer.
Hearing the Cry of the Poor: From Supplication to Solidarity
The cry “day and night” is not only my innermost cry; it is the clamor of the little ones, the invisible, the wounded. The widow speaks for herself, but represents an entire people. To pray according to Luke 18 is to allow this cry to enter into my prayer, and to become a relay of God's compassion. The promised justice is not a privilege of the initiated; it concerns the “chosen,” that is, those whom God has called to bring his mercy into the world.
Concretely, this involves listening and proximity: learn the names, frequent the places where suffering is hidden, inform oneself without voyeurism, perform small useful acts. A community that prays this text and does not change its budgets, its priorities, its pace, is missing out. The widow's insistence then becomes the insistence of the Church for the discouraged, the bereaved, the exiled, the victims of violence, the forgotten sick.
The cry of the poor educates our desire: he frees us from self-centered prayer. As soon as I welcome their cry, my prayer expands and becomes more true. It does not scatter, it concentrates: “Lord, do justice to your people.” Then, the promised justice is already manifest, not only in the verdicts obtained, but in concrete solidarity, creative reparation, and lived fraternity. Justice and mercy cease to oppose each other and recognize each other as two names of the same grace.
Transition to solidarity
- A priority intention for a vulnerable loved one.
- A concrete monthly commitment (time, skills, donation).
- A story shared in the parish to inform without exposing.
Caption: Three steps to make prayer a common good.
Implications by sphere of life
- Vpersonal ie: Establish a daily “justice appointment” (10 minutes, morning or evening). Read Luke 18:1-8 slowly, then name a situation where you need justice and peace. End with a gesture of trusting surrender: “Father, I commit myself to your justice.” Write down a micro-action to take within 24 hours.
- Family life: Introduce a weekly prayer for a conflict situation (internal or external). Everyone can say in one sentence what they would like to see “restored.” Together, ask for a concrete act of reparation (apology, service, restitution). Reread after a week: what has changed?
- Parish/community life: Create a 4-week “perseverance workshop”: Word, share, pray, act. Week 1: Identify the cries. Week 2: Discern appropriate actions. Week 3: Pray tirelessly. Week 4: Reread and give thanks. Include a justice budget (support for local individuals or associations).
- Professional / civic life: Apply perseverance when dealing with difficult cases: clarify the facts, document, follow up courteously, escalate to the right level without aggression. Pray before a tense meeting: “Lord, make room for truth and peace.” Refuse the short circuits of resentment: prefer legal avenues, even slow ones.
- Digital life: Clean up the information ecosystem. Limit exposure to content that fuels sterile anger. Use digital technology to document, connect, and support remedial efforts. Mark every sensitive interaction with a short prayer of inner blessing.
Application scenario
A parish team adopts a family undergoing a complex administrative process. Weekly prayers, building a solid file, and accompanying them to appointments. Within six months, a favorable decision was reached; along the way, fraternal bonds were formed.
Caption: When prayer, law and friendship meet, justice matures.
Resonances
Tradition has often linked Lk 18 with Lk 11:5-8 (the unwelcome friend): two parables of insistence that do not produce the fulfillment, but awaken faith. The Fathers of the Church emphasize the a fortiori: if injustice yields to insistence, how much more does love respond to trust. In Saint Augustine, perseverance is a gift: God sometimes grants by delaying in order to expand desire. Saint John Chrysostom insists on the prayer of the poor, more transparent to God. Origen reads in the widow the soul that cries out for the help of the Spouse.
The liturgy illuminates: the antiphon of Heb 4:12 reminds us that the Word penetrates intentions. Thus, persevering prayer is not a string of demands but a place of salutary judgment: God weighs my motive, straightens me out, then sustains me over time. The Catechism invites us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17) and to “hope against all hope.” The psalms of supplication (“Justify me, O God,” Ps 43) give language to the cry that becomes praise.
Canonically speaking, Lk 18 is reread with Rev 6:10 (“How long, Master, will you delay in doing justice?”), Rom 12:12 (“Continue in prayer”), Sir 35:14-18 (God listens to the poor). The whole outlines a theology of active patience: God is not slow; he is faithful. His “quickly” respects our freedoms, thwarts the traps of hatred and fulfills the truth in its time.
Voice of the Fathers
- Augustine: Delay expands desire.
- Chrysostom: The cry of the poor crosses the heavens.
- Origen: the widow, figure of the soul.
Caption: Three angles for praying with the ancient Church.
Practical
- Enter: Take two minutes of silence, breathe slowly. Stand before God like a widow: poor but determined.
- Word: Read “And shall not God avenge his own elect, who cry unto him day and night?” Let the verse resonate.
- Name: formulate a brief request, related to an injustice or a damaged relationship. Avoid accusatory details; aim for the restoration of truth.
- Delivery: say three times, in a low voice: “Father, in your hands, justice and peace.”
- Listen: a minute of silence. Welcome a light: a gesture, a step, a word to say.
- Action: Decide on a small act of reparation within 24 hours.
- Praise: conclude with a short psalm (Ps 43:1-3), or a simple doxology: “Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.”
- Fidelity: take this path three days in a row; reread at the end: what has changed in me, around me?
Anthem
“Alleluia! The word of God is living and active; it judges the intentions and thoughts of the heart. Alleluia.” (cf. Heb 4:12)
Caption: Let the antiphon guide inner listening.
Current issues
- If God promises “very soon,” why so much delay? In the Bible, promptness is an expression of faithfulness, not the assurance of a mechanical “instant.” God acts at the right time, the one when his justice can take root without destroying. Delay is not abandonment; it is often protection and maturation.
- Doesn't persistent prayer encourage passivity? No, if it is set on the truth. The widow does not wait indefinitely without acting: she presents herself, she speaks, she uses the legal route. Likewise, praying and doing just things go together. Inaction is not faith; faith works through charity.
- How to avoid the “prosperity” drift (guarantee of immediate fulfillment)? Keeping the center: God is not a means to my agenda. The justice he gives is healing of bonds, not simple success. The criterion: does the request make me more real, more free, more fraternal?
- And when injustice persists? Prayer then becomes cruciform fidelity. We can change strategies (other recourses, mediation), seek support, and entrust to the Lord what is beyond our strength. The cry of the martyrs (Rev 6:10) is not stifled: it is gathered, and it will bear fruit.
- Does legitimate anger have a place? Yes, as initial energy transfigured by the Word. Anger retains the sense of justice; prayer directs it toward reparation, not revenge. If anger prevents us from hearing others, entrust it to God before acting.
To avoid
- Threatening God or others in the name of “justice.”
- Short-circuiting legal remedies with violent “shortcuts”.
> Caption: Two deviations that break the promise instead of welcoming it.
Prayer
God of justice and tenderness, you who hear the cry of the little ones, look upon your people who call upon you “day and night.” We come like the widow, without strength or support, but full of hope, for you are our judge and our Father.
Give us a persevering heart, one that never tires of seeking you. When the delay grows long, keep us from bitterness; make our waiting a space of light. Enlighten our intentions, weigh our thoughts: purify our requests of all spirit of revenge, and make the desire for truth grow in us.
Remember the wounded, the bereaved, the exiled, the forgotten. Do justice to those who mourn violence, fraud, betrayal. Open a path before them: upright people, just decisions, doors that open, hearts that find peace. Grant that we may be, for them, brothers and sisters, patient artisans of reparation.
Lord Jesus, Son of Man, when you come, find faith in us: a humble and tenacious faith, a faith that prays and acts, a faith that blesses and builds. Put on our lips a simple and true word; put in our hands a gesture of peace and justice.
Holy Spirit, breath of truth, come and inhabit our perseverance. Make us faithful to the little flame of the morning, to the intercession of the evening. Make our communities homes where the cry is heard, where the weak are protected, where mercy is celebrated. May God's justice go before us and follow us, may it heal what is crooked, may it raise up what is broken.
To you, the living God, thanksgiving is due now and forever and ever. Amen.
Conclusion
The parable of the troublesome widow teaches us to unite prayer and responsibility, perseverance and gentleness, justice and mercy. God promises: he will do justice. Our part is to hold fast to faith, to adjust our requests, and to dare to take concrete action. Start small, today: a set time, a clear intention, a step of reparation. Share with a loved one or in your community: perseverance becomes stronger when it is shared by many.
Choose a pivotal verse (Luke 18:7) and place it at the heart of your days. Return to it when impatience rises. And remember: the final question is not “Have you obtained it?” but “Does the faith live?” If we keep the faith, God’s justice will find its way. And it will begin, as it often does, in the delicacy of a gesture, the truth of a word, the patience of a converted heart.
Head straight away
- Set a daily 10-minute appointment.
- Choose an intention and a concrete action.
- Share with a spiritual ally.
Caption: Three decisions for the parable to become a path.
Practical sheet
- Every morning, read Lk 18:1-8 for 2 minutes and name a single, clear intention, oriented towards reparation and truth.
- Three times a day, breathe, repeat: “Father, do justice to your chosen ones,” then choose a micro-action consistent with the request.
- Keep a perseverance notebook: facts, prayers, reminders, intuitions; reread it each week to discern progress and next steps.
- Prefer legal remedies and mediation to revenge; seek advice from a wise person before any escalation.
- Combining prayer and solidarity: a visit, a call, a gift, a skill offered to someone in need.
- Limit exposure to anger-inducing content; bless difficult people internally before writing to them.
- In community, plan a “month of perseverance”: Word, prayer, action, rereading, with a simple and measurable commitment.
References
- The Bible, Gospel according to Saint Luke, 18,1-8; parallels: Lk 11,5-8; Ps 43; Sir 35,14-18; Rev 6,10; 1 Th 5,17.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections on prayer of petition, perseverance, justice and mercy.
- Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Prayer and Commentaries on the Psalms (notion of desire dilated by delay).
- John Chrysostom, Homilies on Prayer and Justice, emphasis on the cry of the poor.
- Origen, Homilies on Luke, spiritual reading of the widow and the judge.
- Benedict XVI, Spe salvi, passages on hope, eschatological justice and active patience.
- Psalms and Liturgy of the Hours, antiphon “The Word of God is living and active” (Heb 4:12) for prayerful listening.
