Thursday, 4th Week of Ordinary Time

Luke 18:1-8

“Then will not God give justice to his chosen, to whom he listens patiently while they cry out to him day and night? I tell you, he will give them justice soon enough. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Lk 18:7-8, Revised English Bible)

I think that the REB gets verse 7 right. Yes, Jesus promises, God will give us justice “soon enough.” But he will also “listen patiently,” that is, he will suffer with us as we wait for injustice to be corrected. But God is God, right? Isn’t he, like, omnipotent, all-powerful and all that? Why will he give justice “soon enough”? Why not give justice right now?

One possible answer is that God also gives freedom to the just and the unjust. If God were to always intervene and prevent an injustice before it was committed, would we really be free to do the right thing. God wants us to be his partners in his work of bringing justice and peace to this world. God wants us for his partners, not his puppets.

That is a philosophical answer. Jesus’s answer is himself. He came to his own people, as John writes in his Gospel. And his own people, having the freedom to choose faith or unbelief, chose the latter. And Jesus paid the ultimate price of that rejection on the cross, even as he patiently bore that rejection. Certainly, we all can recall times where we might have felt that justice didn’t come fast enough. I suspect that we all can also recall times where we needed God’s patience with us.

And if we who call ourselves Christians have faith in the Son of Man, then perhaps we might ask ourselves, while we’re waiting for God, “What can we do to give justice to the oppressed?”