Today’s readings show us that God calls us to celebrate World Mission Sunday within the context of prayer. Here are some challenging conclusions to be drawn from this statement. 

At the 2nd Vatican Council, the Church wrote that she is by her very nature missionary. As a Church, to be missionary “immersed in prayer” must be as natural as it is natural to breathe. 

“Pray unceasingly” we are told (1 Thes. 5:17). And he (Jesus) said to them, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so, pray the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” (Luke 10:2) 

Heathens and those not yet living by the Gospel, pray whenever they are in trouble or in dire need.   

But the 1st reading (Exodus 17:8-13), addresses our missionary nature within the context of prayer as uninterrupted flow of grace from God to us.   

If Moses is in a prayerful mode, Israel has the upper hand.  But if Moses gets tired of being in a praying posture, the opposite happens. 

As mission-oriented believers, we learn that our prayer must be “hooked up” to a divine lifeline, conscious of living in the presence of our loving God, aware of his unfailing love for us, and of how our very existence depends on him alone.  

Yet, it is in today’s gospel passage (Luke 18:1-8) that we find the unexpected dimension of prayer that is necessary for our fruitful Gospel proclamation. 

We assume that widows are the epitome of frailty, helplessness and weakness. 

Indeed, the walls around the unjust judge were seemingly impenetrable.  He did not care about God, people, justice or his reputation.  He was indifferent to compassion, integrity, and fear of God.  So, this widow must have wondered how to get justice done under those unfavorable conditions. 

The biblical scholar John J. Pilch informs us that in those days, legal cases were heard in the public square, with the whole village entertained by the spectacle of the litigants.   

In such a setting, the astute and resourceful widow found two weak spots in the judge’s defense system: the village community and the judge’s selfish nature.  

Eventually, the judge caved in to public opinion.  He could not take the wear and tear of having his brazen corruption exposed day in and day out. 

And something equally important, he could not take the constant nagging.  He wanted some peace and quiet and, besides, he was afraid that this feisty widow would throw him a punch or a low blow. 

Hence, from John J. Pilch’s exposition, here are the points that Jesus wishes to drive home:  

Awareness of our noticeable limits is no excuse. Our inaction as missionaries cannot be justified by claiming to be too busy or much worried about the uncertainty of the future. 

Nor can we use as an excuse the world’s lack of interest in the Gospel message and in God. 

And we cannot even point to the enormity of the task on hand with billions of people who never heard of Jesus and his Gospel. 

Let us remember that we are not alone in our task of spreading the Gospel; the whole Church is on our side, praying and begging the Master of the harvest.  

Secondly: we do not have weakness facing the tenacity of a corrupt judge, but weakness facing weakness: our weakness facing God’s “weakness,” God’s vulnerability.   

No one is weaker and more vulnerable than Someone in love.  Just look at the Crucifix.  That is the guarantee that our entreaties will be heard! 

Do not think that the only missionaries are priests and nuns belonging to missionary societies and orders.  

If you lead a prayerful life enlightened and shaped by God’s Word, your preaching is truly what our confused and restless western world so badly needs.  

 In this country, too, people can take or leave the preaching of conventional missionaries; but they ought to listen to you, lay people, because you can be so much more effective by preaching mostly with your life and by the way you bear witness to your Catholic faith, and you find it natural to be always in a prayerful mode.