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Dear Cathedral community,
This Sunday’s readings draw us into a simple but
powerful message: Do not lose heart.
“Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have
revealed your glory among the nations: preserve the works of your
mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with
steadfast faith in the confession of your Name.”
That prayer feels especially relevant right now. It’s
a prayer that God would hold the Church and hold us steady when life
feels uncertain or heavy. It reminds us that mercy, compassion, and
faith aren’t just things we talk about; they are works that
must be preserved. They are living expressions of God’s love that
require tending, attention, and courage.
In the reading from 2 Timothy, Paul writes to his
young friend and student:
“Continue in what you have learned and firmly
believed, knowing from whom you learned it.”
That’s such tender advice. Paul doesn’t tell Timothy
to try something new or reinvent the faith; he tells him to remember.
Remember the people who taught you to pray. Remember the saints who
showed you how to love. Remember where you first saw grace at work.
Every one of us learned faith from someone a
grandparent who whispered prayers, a mentor who lived with quiet
integrity, a friend who reminded us that God’s love is real. These
memories are part of our inheritance. They anchor us when the ground
beneath us shifts.
Paul continues,
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness.”
Scripture isn’t meant to be a weapon or a wall. It’s a
window into God’s breath — a way God keeps speaking life into us. It
teaches, shapes, and equips us for “every good work.” And those good
works are everywhere in our homes, our neighborhoods, and the places
we serve.
Paul warns that there will be seasons when the message
of Christ won’t be popular or easy. There will be times, he says,
when people “have itching ears” wanting to hear only what comforts
them, not what challenges them.
That’s not just a problem of Paul’s day. It’s our
challenge too. We live in a world that values quick answers and easy
certainties. But the Gospel asks for patience, humility, and
endurance. Paul says, “Be persistent, whether the time is favorable
or unfavorable.” In other words — stay steady. Keep loving. Keep
forgiving. Keep showing mercy. Those things never go out of season.
And then Jesus gives us the parable of the widow and
the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). It’s a story about prayer, but it’s
also a story about courage.
The widow in the story is vulnerable and powerless by
the standards of her society, yet she refuses to be silent. She keeps
coming back to the judge, again and again,
asking for justice. Eventually the judge gives in — not because he’s
righteous, but because she wears him down.
Jesus tells this story, Luke says, “to show them that
they should always pray and not lose heart.”
This is what faith looks like: persistence rooted in
hope.
It’s not about pestering God. It’s about trusting that
God is good even when the world is not.
It’s about staying in relationship, keeping the line
open, even when the conversation feels one-sided.
“Do not lose heart” those words are a prayer for all
of us.
It’s easy to lose heart when prayers seem unanswered,
when the Church feels stretched thin, or when justice seems slow to
come. It’s easy to grow tired, to say “What difference does it make?”
But Jesus invites us to a deeper hope the kind
that doesn’t depend on quick results.
God’s justice is not absent; it is patient.
God’s mercy is not delayed; it is deep.
And sometimes our persistence in prayer is what keeps
us close to that mercy what keeps us soft and open in a world
that often rewards cynicism.
When Jesus ends the parable by asking, “When the Son
of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” — he’s not wondering
whether there will still be churches or creeds. He’s asking whether
we will still trust in God’s goodness when the evidence seems
scarce. Will we still be people of mercy? Will we still love one
another across difference? Will we still pray for peace even when
peace feels far away?
That’s the kind of faith the widow shows us, the kind
that refuses to quit.
That’s the faith Paul encouraged in Timothy, the
kind that remembers its roots and keeps going.
And that’s the faith our Cathedral community is called
to live out together: patient, steady, hope-filled, persistent love.
At St. Mark’s, perseverance looks like many small,
holy acts:
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the choir member who keeps singing through tears,
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the volunteer who shows up early to prepare a meal,
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the parent who brings their child to church even when
the morning feels impossible,
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the person who slips quietly into a pew and prays for
a hurting world.
These are the “works of mercy” God is preserving among
us.
Not perfect faith, but faith that keeps showing up.
Not triumph, but trust.
So if you find yourself
tired, uncertain, or waiting for God to move — take heart.
You are not forgotten.
You are being preserved.
God is still breathing life into you, and through you
into this community.
Keep praying.
Keep showing up.
Keep believing that mercy still matters.
And together, as the Body of Christ, may we be found
faithful people who do not lose heart, because the heart of God has
never lost us.
In Christ’s steadfast love,
Tim+
The Rev. Timothy M. Kingsley
he/him/his
Cathedral Provost
Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Minneapolis
519 Oak Grove St., Minneapolis MN 55403
Website: http://www.ourcathedral.org
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