Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 18, 2023
Jesus told his disciples a parable
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
He said, “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.’
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.’”
The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
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.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Reflection
Every time my Dad and I used to talk about politics, we would argue. My Mom pulled me aside one day and asked, “Why do you keep bringing up these issues? It always leads to a fight.” “I don’t know, Mom,” I replied. “That’s just who we are. That’s how we communicate.”
I never wearied of those arguments, and I don’t think my Dad did either. They yielded a few of my fondest memories of our relationship.
Sometimes, prayers of petition can feel like an argument with God, at least when our pleas seemingly go unanswered. When relationships end, loved ones get sick or die, and suffering goes unquenched, anger at God—or disappointment or disillusionment—can be natural and understandable.
In today’s gospel, Jesus invites us to be persistent in prayer, even when we have not received what we have asked for. I don’t sense that the message here is that if we ask often enough, we will obtain precisely what we desire. (Wouldn’t that be great!) No, I think Jesus is saying that the asking itself is good. Our pleas are part of our very relationship with God, and they have value unto themselves. Throwing ourselves and our desires into the Lord’s arms is how Jesus wants us to relate to God.
I wish I could argue with my Dad again, even if those debates occasionally left us both a little overheated. Let’s not tire of bringing ourselves, including our desires, passions, requests, and (if we have them) our anger and disappointment, to our gracious and generous God who never wearies of us.
Prayer
Our Father, have you heard our cries? Have you heard our calls, our small voices, hoarse and tight? You tell us not to lose heart. Wash our hearts with grace so that we may trust your promise, so that our heavy hearts will not be lost in the night. You promise to send your justice, bright and burning. Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth? Give us this faith, O God. Quicken our hearts, spark and winnow our hope into a flame of love that expects your justice, and rejoices when it blossoms. Amen.
Saint of the Day

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne was a French nun who survived the French Revolution and was sent to America as a missionary at the age of 49. She was extraordinarily courageous in facing dangerous conditions on the frontier and was single-minded in her desire to serve the Native American population around her.
Rose was born in Grenoble, France, in 1769, to a wealthy family—her father was a successful businessman and city leader, and her mother was from a well-established family in the region. At the age of eight, Rose heard a Jesuit missionary priest give a lecture on his work on the American frontier, and the idea of serving as a missionary in America captured Rose's young imagination and became the greatest desire of her heart.
Rose was educated at home until she was twelve—after that, she was sent to a nearby convent for further schooling. When she turned nineteen, she secretly joined the community of nuns with whom she was studying, against the wishes of her family.
In 1792, at the height of the French Revolution, the convent Rose lived in was closed. For the next ten years, Rose lived as a laywoman but still ordered her life according to the vows she had professed as a religious sister. She even began a school for poor children, cared for the sick, and hid priests who were secretly leading Mass and encouraging the faithful.
When the Reign of Terror passed, Rose re-joined what was left of her community, and in 1804 the remaining members were grafted into a different community—the Society of the Sacred Heart. After a decade in this Society, Rose was asked to establish a new convent in Paris. Several years later, in 1818, at the age of 49, she and four other sisters traveled to the Louisiana Territory as missionaries to the American West.
She fell very ill on the trip to America and had to spend time recovering when they landed in New Orleans. She fell dangerously ill again on her trip up the Mississippi River to the area around St. Louis.
After arriving and recovering, she and her companions founded a school near St. Louis for the daughters of pioneers. They faced the bitter cold in the single log cabin in which they lived and worked. The community went on to open six other institutions, including orphanages and the first three schools west of the Mississippi River.
Rose had a loving concern for the Native Americans who lived by the European settlements on the American frontier, and she spent just as much of her energy educating them and caring for their sick as for the Europeans. When she retired from her administrative duties at the age of 71, she opened a school for Native Americans of the Potawatomi tribe, whose name for her meant “the woman who is always praying.”
Her work with the Potawatomi was short-lived, however—she failed to master their language, having struggled to learn English. After a year, she retired to a cabin near their original school around St. Louis and lived in prayer and solitude until she died in 1852. Before she died, she wrote:
“We cultivate a very small field for Christ but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.”
St. Rose was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, the brave French nun who survived the Reign of Terror to bring education to the American frontier—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne is in the public domain. Last accessed October 18, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.