Perseverance in Prayer
The
same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven
children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across
the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a
man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail
against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of
joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is
breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless
me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said,
"Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called
Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have
prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name."
But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed
him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face
to face, and yet my life is preserved." The sun rose upon him as he passed
Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Genesis 32:22-31
Jacob’s Angel
RATNER, Phillip
Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum
10001 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda. MD 20814
https://www.ratnermuseum.org/page/ellis-island
The most important human
endeavor
is striving for morality in our
actions.
Our inner balance and even our
very existence depend on it.
Only morality in our actions
can give beauty and dignity to
our lives.
~ Albert Einstein
The difference between
perseverance and obstinacy
is that one comes from a strong
will,
and the other from a strong
won’t.
~ Henry Ward Beecher
Chew and Chat at the Cheesecake Factory
Karla
Byrd, Sondra Kellogg, Marilee Ross, Carolyn Alexander
The jungle of computer cords under my desk is gone!
THANK
YOU, JEFF STONE!!!
Nothing paralyzes our lives like the attitude
that things can never change.
We need to remind ourselves
that God can change things.
Outlook determines outcome.
If we see only the problems,
we will be defeated;
but if we see the
possibilities in the problems,
we can have victory.
~ Warren Wiersbe
October 18, 2025 Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Year C - [Prop.
24C]
Previous OPQs may be found at:
Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Luke 18:1-8
Agnus Day, by
James Weinstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
LECTIONARY
Jeremiah 31:27-34 and Psalm 119:97-104
Genesis 32:22-31
and Psalm 121
2 Timothy
3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8
October 19 – 29th Sunday of the Year C / 19th Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 24C]
“There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary . . . ’”
Luke 18: 1-8THE WORD:
The judge in Jesus’ parable read today is not one of the Jewish elders but a paid magistrate appointed by the Roman governors. These magistrates were notoriously corrupt, extorting money from plaintiffs to secure favorable verdicts. The widow, typically defenseless in such dealings, persists until the judge just wants to be rid of her.
Jesus does not liken God to the unfeeling, insensitive judge but contrasts God to him: If such persistence will finally move such an unfeeling and corrupt figure will not the God of mercy and love be moved by the cries of his own beloved people? The parable of the widow and the unjust judge (found only in Luke’s Gospel) calls us to perseverance in prayer – prayer that seeks not to force God’s hand but prayer that opens our hearts and minds to his always available grace.
The “persistence” of God’s love for us transcends our own doubts, our distractions, our hurts and disappointments. We are always embraced in the heart of God, an embrace we experience in the love of others; we are always held in God’s memory, remembered in every moment of forgiveness and healing.
The parable of the persistent widow challenges how we approach God in prayer: we don’t pray trying to wring favors from a curmudgeonly God but we pray to determine how God calls us to act in this set of circumstances. We don’t pray trying to move God to our will but to let God move us to God’s will.
Jeremiah 31:27-34
But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth
of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I
made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says
the Lord.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, says the Lord:
I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will
be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one
another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and
remember their sin no more.
Psalm
119:97-104
Quomodo dilexi!
97 Oh, how I love your law! *
all the day long it is in my mind.
98
Your commandment has made me wiser than my enemies, *
and it is always with me.
99
I have more understanding than all my teachers, *
for your decrees are my study.
100
I am wiser than the elders, *
because I observe your commandments.
101
I restrain my feet from every evil way, *
that I may keep your word.
102
I do not shrink from your judgments, *
because you yourself have taught me.
103
How sweet are your words to my taste! *
they are sweeter than honey to my mouth.
104
Through your commandments I gain understanding; *
therefore I hate every lying way.
2
Timothy 3:14-4:5
As for you, continue
in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,
and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to
instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired
by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for
training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be
proficient, equipped for every good work.
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who
is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his
kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the
time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the
utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up
with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for
themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from
listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober,
endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
Luke
18:1-8
Jesus told his
disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He
said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had
respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and
saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but
later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for
anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so
that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said,
"Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to
his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping
them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son
of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"