Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
Then they who fear the Lord spoke with one another, and the Lord listened attentively; and a record book was written before him of those who fear the Lord and trust in his name. And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession, on the day I take action. And I will have compassion on them, as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. Then you will again see the distinction between the just and the wicked; between the one who serves God, and the one who does not serve him. For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the Lord of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.
He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.
Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
“How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Fr. Josep Mª MASSANA i Mola OFM (Barcelona, Spain)Today, the Gospel is a catechesis by Jesus on prayer. He solemnly asserts that the Father always listens to Him: “ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Lk 11:9).
At times, we may think that reality indicates this is not always the case, that it does not actually “work” in such a way. This is because we must want to pray with an attitude adequate to an effective prayer!
The first premise is dedication and perseverance. We must pray avoiding feeling disheartened, even if we think our prayer is being ignored, or is not given heed to, right away. This is the attitude of that inappropriate man calling on his friend's home, in the middle of the night, to request a favor. With his doggedness he will get the loaves he needs. God is the friend who listens from within to whoever is persistent enough. We must believe that He will give us what we are asking, because in addition to being a friend, He is also our Father.
The second stipulation Jesus teaches us is confidence and filial love. God's paternity goes far beyond man's paternity, which is limited and imperfect: “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven …?” (Lk 11:13).
The Third one: above all we must ask for the Holy Spirit and not only for material things. Jesus encourages us to invoke Him, assuring us we shall receive it: “... how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk 11:13). This petition is always listened to. It is very much like asking the grace of the prayer, as the Holy Spirit is its source and its origin.
The blessed Fra Giles of Assisi, one of St. Francis' friars and friends, summarizes the idea of this Gospel when he says: “Pray faithfully and devotedly, because a grace God has not granted you once, He may grant to you some other time. On your part, humbly place your whole mind in God, and God will place his grace in you, as and when He pleases.”
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
"Your truth told us to cry out, and we should be answered; to knock, and it would be opened to us; to beg, and it would be given to us. Oh! Eternal Father, Your servants do cry out to Your mercy; do You then reply" (Santa Catalina de Siena)
"When we need help, Jesus does not tell us to resign ourselves and close ourselves off, but rather to turn to the Father and ask him with confidence. All our needs, from the most evident, daily ones" (Francis)
"The Holy Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls to her all that Jesus said also instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of the same basic forms of prayer: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2644)
