The story of Judith was written well over two thousand years ago, but you would think, on reading it, that the ink was scarcely dry. In my prayer Our Lord begins by singling out this splendid woman and reminding me of a few traits in her admirable life which, as He will show me, would seem to justify us in almost regarding Judith as a woman of our own day. The full story in the Old Testament will well repay a careful reading. All that is possible here, as I, a Catholic woman, kneel to pray, is to underline a few salient points.
The first trait that wins our heart is the buoyant optimism of this woman and her refusal to lose confidence in God. The Assyrians, you see, were laying siege to the Israelites and were pressing them very bard. Holofernes, the leader of the Assyrians, had defied God and sworn he would destroy His name and wipe off all the earth all who presumed to worship Him. One of his generals, called Achior, had recounted the blessings which God had bestowed on Israel and Holofernes was transported with rage, even to hear how God had protected His people.
The Israelites in the city of Bethulia had decided they could hold out no longer. If God did not show them mercy within five days, they would give themselves up to Holofernes. It is at this point that the splendid trust in God that filled the heart of Judith shines forth. Judith was a woman of great virtue, a widow, very beautiful, much given to prayer and penance and reverenced by everyone. She was indignant that her people should presume to set a limit to the patience of the Lord; who were they, who was anybody, to dictate conditions to the Almighty?
Men, generally, arrive at conclusions by carefully weighing up arguments and deducing in this way what is best to do. But woman sees, intuitively as it were, what is right and what is wrong. She will tell you what she "feels," that she has a strong urge to do this or that, and she does not doubt it is the right thing to do. In the case of Judith, what the woman "felt" was exactly what God willed, as the sequel was to show.
God's enemies are still active; they repeat in almost the identical words of the Assyrians that they will destroy God and His Church. They are meeting with a terrifying success. The Church, at such a juncture, needs the optimism of womankind, founded on a boundless trust in the promises of God.
Woman will need it too, this confidence, in her own domestic circle. She will resolutely refuse to tamper with God's law in order to follow the lead of those who advocate birthcontrol. You will not shake her trust in her God that He Who feeds the ravens will provide for His own children. A true woman is a beacon of light in the home; her irrepressible cheerfulness, her abiding determination to smile through difficulties, her lighthearted way of brushing obstacles aside, make her, indeed, as God intended her to be, a helpmate in the home and family.
Jesus, at this hour when Your Church is sorely oppressed, give us that confidence in You that no trial can weaken. Jesus, in our own personal problems, in the responsibilities we must shoulder, give us confidence in You. Jesus, when all seems to be going wrong, when no ray of light seems able to penetrate through the inky blackness, give us the confidence that waits and rests in the assurance that You will soon return.