A homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 19, 2025
Exodus 17:8-13, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8
It doesn’t take long for any of us to realize why cat videos — and especially kitten reels — constitute about half the content on mainstream (fuddy-duddy) social media.
Cats are crazy.
Which qualifies cat people like my family and me as being a bit loony, too.
Andrea and I now share our home with three quirkily named rescue felines: King Friday XIII, our black-on-black-on-black 12-year-old with orange eyes suitable for Hallowe’en; Bruce Wayne the Batman, our black-and-white tuxedo-clad 6-year-old who fended for himself on the mean streets during the first six months of his life; and Cara Mia, a black-gray-and-white tabby kitten of indeterminate age, who nearly starved outdoors before rescue angels saved her.
Recently adopted Mia’s tiny size suggests she’s barely past weaning, but wise veterinarians tell us she has her full adult teeth and could be 5 or 6 months old.
Regardless, according to the cat-rescue lady, Mia acts like a feline teen.
No space is too small for her to try to squeeze into, even if she doesn’t have a clear escape plan.
No counter or shelf is too tall for her to try to leap onto in a single bound. Eat your heart out, Kal El.
Neither of the older cats is too big to challenge to a race, made all the more hilarious by their respective skids and hairpin turns on our faux-wood flooring.
In short, Mia is determined.
Fearless. Curious. Sassy. Cuddly.
Determined.
And like every cat on the Web, on Facebook, on Insta, on Bluesky, on TikTok, Mia gets her way because “No” is not part of her vocabulary.
We humans need to learn this level of determination from God’s simpler creatures who live among us.
Stubborn (whiny) cats begging for food. The critters in Frank Sinatra’s early-Sixties ditty “High Hopes” — ants that move trees, goats that smash dams. Aesop’s grasshopper and ant (again with the ants) prepping for winter, or not.
Our Scripture passages today — about determined warriors, determined evangelists, a determined widow — remind us to never give up. That, with God’s help, we can achieve and succeed, and we can even overcome injustice meted out by unjust people. Especially unjust people in positions of power.
Our Scripture passages today remind us that, as the people on the World War II home front learned from the poster by J. Howard Miller for Westinghouse, we can do it.
So: What is the “It” we can do?
How do we determine what It is?
How do we do It once we determine what It is?
Invoking the simplicity of our companion animals, we can start by defining the big It that we will do in all of our lives as loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves, following the example of Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel, God-With-Us.
But the broad brush of that simplicity is, frankly, too broad. Action plans — even ones powered by love — need details, they need steps, they need a clearly defined goal.
And action plans always need a timeline. Often, an open-ended one. A timeline powered by patient determination and a laser focus on the goal, even if that goal, that It, is far off.
As chronicled in Exodus, the Israelite warriors led by the determined Joshua fought until Amalek was defeated. No clock on the scoreboard, no timeouts. Victory was their clear goal.
In his letter, Paul insisted to Timothy that he speak and live Holy Scripture with energy and determination, especially in the face of resistance. For however long it took for the Good News to sink in among Timothy’s audiences. Continuing Paul’s mission of converting the Gentiles was Timothy’s goal.
But then there’s the passage from Luke’s Gospel, which in truth I’ve always found to be a head-scratcher. I don’t see how the unjust judge gets the most words in this, because even though he does the right thing in the end, he’s still a slimeball. He did the right thing for the wrong reason. He delivered justice to the determined widow because he feared she could deliver a rock through his front window. (She wouldn’t have…)
If good triumphs over evil, then the evil person should become good. Where’s the change of heart in this judge? That is a worthy goal, but that goal is not achieved. At least, not 2,000 years ago.
Which means changing people’s hearts and minds to live and act justly, kindly, charitably and respectfully is now our mission. A kinder, more respectful, more thoughtful world is our goal.
Our action plan consists of small steps, continual steps, steps taken individually and as a community, the Body of Christ. Nonstop and never-ending, chipping away at the ice that has frozen so many people’s hearts.
Listening without judging. Helping in any way we can, without any expectation of repayment. Performing random acts of kindness. Paying it forward. Accepting help ourselves, ungrudgingly.
Simply being present.
Each step we take with divinely graced determination toward a just and harmonious world will reflect who we are and what gifts God gave us. Gifts we’re commanded to share.
And if we have to leap every now and then, we can be confident we’re making leaps of faith. In a single bound.
Two quick notes: The photo of the kitten that accompanies this is not Mia. She doesn’t slow down long enough for me to snap her picture. Also, we love dogs too, and we had beautiful Shelties that crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Cats are just more … um … convenient at this stage of our lives.
