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We have had a lot of former slaves in our Feast Days as of late. Last week, we remembered the story of Brigid of Kildare, a slave in Ireland back in the 6th Century. This Sunday, we will celebrate one of the priests of our Diocese, Absalom Jones, a former slave in this land. Today we remember Josephine Margaret Bakhita, a woman who was trafficked and sold into slavery in Sudan during the late 19th Century, even though such an act was illegal in that country at the time.
In our Gospel today, we hear Jesus’ parable of the unjust judge, who finally listens to the cry of the widow in distress, after she makes it again and again. Jesus’ point is that if the unjust judge listened to the widow in distress, then God will all the more be listening. At the same time, we should be listening to those cries of distress as well.
Brigid, Bakhita, and Jones all, thankfully, had someone who listened to their cry. All thankfully had, at one point in time, the love and support of the church.
We, in turn, are called to listen to the cries made to the Lord. We are called to listen and try to help anyone who needs it. Whether slavery or something else, there are many things that try to enslaved us and separate us from the love of God. Whatever those things might be, we are called to be God’s tool in the world to help keep anything that tries to take us from the love of our Lord.