How long, O LORD? I cry for
help
but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not intervene.
Why do you let me see ruin;
why must I look at misery?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and clamorous discord.
How much these words, dear brothers and sister in Christ, must resonate with each of us. For which of us has not petitioned desperately to God, when there is strife in our families, when debtors come knocking at our doors, when our loved ones seesaw between life and death, or languish in grave illness. And yet, so often, indeed all too often, it seems like our voices, our cries, are not heard, and our prayers are unanswered.
And yet, we are assured, in the second half of today's reading from Habakkuk:
the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
In other words, our worthy prayers will never go unanswered, and justice will be done. They may not, however, be done in the time frame we wish for, or in fact, within the time frame we employ. And this occasions us to ask the question, what is the time frame of a Christian?
Too often, brothers and sisters, we measure time by mortal time alone. The span of our lifetime on earth, and sometimes even shorter. Besides, we want our prayers to have been answered, yesterday! And yet, let us think of the one we serve. Psalm 90: 4 teaches,
a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past,
or like a watch in the night.
Or listen to the words from the second letter of St. Peter (3:8):
But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.
This is so, because the horizon of God stretches to eternity. And if it appears that God has not answered your questions, it is because God has invited you to His eternity. In other words, God will answer your prayers, but, in His time and with you by His side. As St. Augustine reminds us, it will come at the appointed hour and, it will not be delayed, so wait for it!
This waiting, dear brothers and sisters, is the feature of the theological virtue of hope. We look forward to the future and the fulfillment of the promises of Christ. And, in the meanwhile, as St. Basil the Great has taught us, if there is sorrow to be borne, it will not be without use!
the more have been your trials, look for a more perfect reward from your last judge. Do not take your present troubles ill. Do not lose hope.
Do not lose hope, is also the advice of St. Paul in his second letter to Timothy, which we read today:
For God did not give us a spirit of
cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
…
but bear your share of hardship for the gospel
with the strength that comes from God.
Our strength, dear brothers and sisters, comes from the Holy Spirit that is given to us at baptism, and at confirmation. It is renewed each time we go to the sacrament of confession, and receive the Eucharist. This is where we get our strength from and why we can, and must, persevere until the Day of Judgement by which time we will see all our prayers answered.
And why should we want to have our prayers answered immediately? In the Gospel today Our Lord points out that we are not His equals, He is not obliged to humour us. We are His servants, and it is our duty and obligation to serve Him.
And what is the work that Our Lord demands of us? He asks that for the immense gift of saving our lives, for giving us the gift of being able to live with Him for eternity, we cooperate with Him, His Blessed Mother, and the angels and saints in the task of fighting evil. Since all suffering is the result of evil, and “the rash one”, He asks that we bear our pain with fortitude, and in the sure knowledge that He will bring us justice. The work that we servants must do, for our entire lives, is to give witness to His word, day in and day out; in season, and out of season (2 Tim 4:2).
At the end of our lives, when we have done all that we have been commanded, we will go to Him and say:
'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'
And then Our Master will fulfill the greatest of His promises:
Well done, good and trustworthy slave… enter into the joy of your master.’ (Mt 25: 23)
(A version of this homily was first preached to the faithful at the parish of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Old Goa on 5 Oct 2025.)
(image reference: The Holy Spirit window through Bernini’s Baldacchino at St. Peter’s Basilica Rome, photo by Daniel Ibáñez, 2025, via EWTN News.)
