Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Perseverance

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives a clever example of why we are to persevere in praying, even if we think the prayer is not being heard. The crooked judge just wanted to get that widow off his back. She was lucky her adversary didn’t pester the judge, too; he might have gone the other way. So we can pray to God with even more confidence, because we know that God loves us and will answer our prayers.
St. Paul carries that theme of perseverance even further. He is not just talking about prayer here; he encourages Timothy to persevere in proclaiming God’s word as well. That command we may find more challenging than prayer. He tells Timothy (and us!) to “convince, reprimand and encourage through all patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). How can we do that?
 “Convince” reminds me that our faith should be reasonable. Not that we can prove all that we believe in a scientific way, but our faith should be realistic; after all, God made the world, so God should know how it works. Jesus’ command to love one another, for instance, can be taught much more convincingly by giving examples of love. A mother who hugs her child when he is hurt, forgives him when he is sorry, and encourages him when he feels lost is teaching that command in a way that will be remembered much longer than just telling him to love people. So we can convince others of our faith by showing them examples of love, forgiveness, and encouragement.
Paul also talks about reprimanding each other. That may be what he was thinking when he says that proclaiming the word can sometimes be inconvenient. Most people find it difficult to reprimand someone they are in charge of, much less one who is equal in status. That’s where patience comes in. A reprimand can be made patiently and gently, as a sign of concern rather than authority.
Paul lastly mentions teaching. He probably was referring to teaching the Hebrew scriptures and how they were fulfilled in Christ. Parents can do their part by teaching the stories from the Bible, helping children to see God in creation, teaching them to pray, and being good examples of God’s love for them. If you send your children to religion classes or the parish school, do what you can to support the teachers so that what the children learn at school is practiced at home. What the children see (or don’t see) at home has a much greater effect than a few hours a week in a classroom.
Tom Schmidt

Short Version

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives a clever example of why we are to persevere in praying, even if we think the prayer is not being heard. The crooked judge just wanted to get that widow off his back. So we can pray to God with even more confidence, because we know that God loves us and will answer our prayers.
St. Paul carries that theme of perseverance even further. He is not just talking about prayer here; he encourages Timothy to persevere in proclaiming God’s word as well. That command we may find more challenging than prayer. He tells Timothy (and us!) to “convince, reprimand and encourage through all patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). How can we do that?
 “Convince” reminds me that our faith should be reasonable. Jesus’ command to love one another, for instance, can be taught much more convincingly by giving examples of love. A mother who hugs her child when he is hurt and encourages him when he feels lost is teaching that command in a way that will be remembered much longer than just telling him to love people.
Paul also talks about reprimanding each other. Most people find it difficult to reprimand someone they are in charge of, much less one who is equal in status. That’s where patience comes in. A reprimand can be made patiently and gently, as a sign of concern rather than authority.
Paul lastly mentions teaching. Parents can do their part by teaching the stories from the Bible, helping children to see God in creation, teaching them to pray, and being good examples of God’s love for them. If you send your children to religion classes or the parish school, do what you can to support the teachers so that what the children learn at school is practiced at home.
Tom Schmidt