2 Timothy 2:11-19Timothy, my son, the saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his”, and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
Luke 18:2-8The Lord said this parable, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterwards he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
God hears those who call upon Him. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matt. 7:7-11). Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? God hears us, but if we ask wrongly, He will not give us what is harmful to us, as St. James makes clear (James 4:3). This is why St. Paul says, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity, for "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). Moreover, will the faithless even ask at all?
Hymenaeus and Philetus had caused some to lose faith by saying that the resurrection had already taken place, an idea essentially tantamount to denying the resurrection altogether. St. Paul assures them, If we have died with him, we will also live with him - that the resurrection is indeed yet to come and that they should not lose hope. However, if we deny him, he also will deny us. Both of today's readings remind us that God is forever faithful, God will never depart from us, never turn His back on us, never break His promise to us. We are never without hope, God's firm foundation stands. But what about us? Will we remain faithful to Him, will we depart from Him, turn our back on Him, break our promise to Him? As C.S Lewis so beautifully put it, "The gates of hell are locked from the inside."
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