As we continue to pray for the country of Ukraine and its people to be protected, especially during this time of war and cold weather, we implore the intercession of St. Josaphat on his feast day. We also pray for the leaders of Russia to heed the call of the peace-loving nations of the world for ceasefire and to come to the table for peaceful negotiations on behalf of those thousands of innocent victims of violence and war.
Who is St. Josaphat? Maybe most of us don’t know that he was born in Poland, raised Ukrainian Orthodox. He was a Basilian monk of the Ruthenian Rite at Vilna, then became a Bishop of Polotsk, and noted to be faithful to the Roman See. His desire was to unite the Ukrainian Church and the Roman Catholic Church. It happened, but he was murdered in 1623. He was the first to be canonized a saint of the Eastern Rite in 1867. Hence, we continuously pray for peace in Ukraine. Let us pray to stop the aggression of Russia as well.
In today’s gospel reading, St. Luke narrates to us the parable of the unjust judge and a persistent and defenseless widow. I’ve mentioned thru my dictates that in biblical times, widows were considered second class citizens with no rightful status in society. She was poor and her persistence to look for justice was motivated by her need. Finally, the judge was unable to resist and gave his good and reasonable judgment in her favor.
I would life to present the parable in a different perspective. Reflecting on this parable, I guess we are the judge and God is represented by the widow. This is another way to look deeper into the value of the gospel.
First, human beings are considered to be as judge in the parable. We are hesitant about doing justice or righteousness and we refuse to be faithful to our duty. Maybe part of our being reluctant to pass the right judgment is because we have invested too much in making ourselves comfortable with everything we have, yet being unaware of others who are begging for help.
Second, God has been represented as the widow in the parable. God knocks at our heart and conscience to be able to do something. At all times, we hear the word of God . Hence, we are opening our dormant conscience to take into consideration God’s persistent desire to make His voice be heard. The Holy Spirit continuously overpowers the unjust judge or humanity’s defiance of what God wants. However, God’s justice prevails in order to alleviate the many concerns of men.
Therefore, we must be ready to turn ourselves to be good judges and be willing to listen to the voice of God (the Widow) to foster good judgment of our actions, words, and character.
With God’s calling and persistence in prayer, we must never grow tired asking Jesus for what we need. Jesus listens to us, and our faith and perseverance in prayer will be rewarded. “Pray always without becoming weary.” (Luke 18:1)
St. Josaphat, pray for peace in Ukraine and may God protect them.
Fr. Arlon, osa
