Main news for 26 February 2021

Jesus’ words: "shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry… unto him, though he bear long with them?", - in the King James Version translation arouse embarrassment to the readers. The Lord suggests to the followers a parable on an unjust judge, who protects nonetheless the poor widow because of her persistence. The unjust judge, from whom it would be absurd to expect justice, wasn't able to resist the firmness of the petitioner. All the more, Jesus says that God who loves His elect will answer their requests. This is how the evangelist Luke understands this parable, and that's why he entitled it "a parable that men ought always to pray and not to faint".

A person begins to doubt God’s kindness if he doesn’t receive at once his request. It is a popular error, due to our ignorance of God. The parable of Jesus refutes exactly such opinion. Then why God “bear long with them”? These words of the King James Version correspond with the original words; the Greek and the Vulgate texts contain the word “bear”. Therefore, the matter is about God's participation in the sufferings of His elect.

“When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” –this is the question Jesus asks; He bears with us in our sufferings, and He "will of course avenge speedily", but "shall he find faith on the earth?". It is important for us to understand that Jesus doesn't speak here about the indifference of the Creator, who condescends in the wails of His people as if it was unwillingly, ad interium between the more important facts. No, far from it! Instead Jesus Christ underlines preeminently God's participation in our sufferings. This participation enters the depth of God's relationship with the world and His vision about this world.

From a practical point of view, Jesus’ important words are about faith. He speaks of something very difficult to understand not only for us, but probably for the followers too, concerning God's forbearance and sufferings of the elected. But He says that, the problem isn't at the level of God; the problem is in the lack of faith, which does not give us the possibilities to see, to know that God avenges us speedily. And the same lack of faith deprives us from the possibility of asking and of receiving this avenge.