Homily for Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Preached on November 14, 2020 at the Saint Meinrad Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln, St. Meinrad, Indiana
Readings: 3 John 5-8; Psalm 112:1-6; Luke 18:1-8
Here is a prayer inspired by the parable.
“Batter my heart three-person’d God!” (“Holy Sonnet 14” by John Donne).
Badger my conscience!
Nag me until I grow weary!
For I am an unjust judge
who have no fear of God or love of neighbor (cf. Lk. 18:2, 4).
My judgement is flawed.
Time and time again, I have ruled against Your favor.
I have denied what is rightfully Yours.
I have rendered to another what belongs to You (cf. Lk. 18:23).
Pester me for I have grown deaf to Your pleas,
I have become blind to what is fair,
I have become cold to what is righteous.
Wear me down until You break me,
until my hardened heart is shattered
by the sob story of Your sad marriage.
I have forgotten that it was my mortal sins
that had made you a widow.
It was my infidelity to our covenant
that had left You heartbroken.
Yet, despite my forgetfulness,
despite my faithlessness,
despite the fact that I could never do You justice,
You have not lost hope
that I would remember our promises,
that I would return to Your side,
that I would restore what is Yours.
“Batter my heart three-person’d God!” (“Holy Sonnet 14” by John Donne).
Badger my conscience!
Nag me until I grow weary!
Do not give up until I give in,
until I give back everything that I owe You:
all my heart, all my being,
all my strength, all my mind (cf. Lk. 10:27).
Here is a prayer inspired by the parable.
Do we dare direct it to God?
Do we dare mean what it says?
Do we dare believe that God will make it true?
watercolor on paper mounted on wood by Nikola Sarić (b. 1985).
Article source: https://noelzamora.wordpress.com/2020/11/14/a-prayer-for-a-nagging-god/