Memorial of St. Joseph Pignatelli Wisdom 18:14-16; 19:6-9 Psalm 105:2-3, 36-37, 42-43 Luke 18:1-8

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer

“The cloud overshadowed their camp;
and out of what had before been water, dry land was seen emerging:
Out of the Red Sea an unimpeded road,
and a grassy plain out of the mighty flood.
Over this crossed the whole nation sheltered by your hand,”

“Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily”

¡El poder de la oración! I have started my reflection with a sentence in my mother tongue. Why? Because I am writing these lines from my heart, as it beats peacefully and gladly remembering the words of Father Jorge (R.I.P.), our Sunday mass priest during my childhood. I go back into my memories to see and hear him talking about the power of prayer (el poder de la oración): the transformative power of prayer as a hallmark of our faith.

When I was kid I loved reading the stories in the Old Testament and so I was marveled thinking that there could be seawaters colored in red. When I was in college I wanted to know if indeed such phenomenon of redistribution of a body of water to let a walkable crossing had a scientific explanation. Now that more years have passed by I focus not on the color of the seawater nor the science of the crossing in the Red Sea. This time I read in the Scripture a metaphor of justice, of what is morally right:  Justice to all. Justice to people who deserve it and persistently search for it.  Justice at the right time.

I have built this interpretation by linking the crossing of the Red Sea to the parable of the widow and the unjust judge. The link I visualize relates to common situations in our daily life: quite often we face difficult, hard, challenging circumstances and seek the way to overcome them, to get justice. How to get justice in this context? We have to ask for it! How to ask for it? By constantly and in a steady manner communicating our just demand. And by being proactive. God helps those who help themselves. The deep belief that our request is fair and consistent with our faith and ethics gives more than enough reason to pray for it. To truly and honestly pray for it. Every day. With patience. With respect. With confidence that our request will be heard. There is no place to get discouraged. There is plenty of room to pray again!

Scripture and life have taught me that God listens to perseverant people, to those who wholeheartedly and persistently pray, to those whose actions are aligned with and in support of their prayers. God listens again. God gives justice. And the sense of praying with determination, of acting according and in pursuit of our request and eventually getting what is fair empowers our actions and decisions to go ahead with our lives, with our ideas, with our responsibilities, with our dreams.