From the responsorial psalm: “This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; He has come to his people.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 11:5-13)
Jesus said to his disciples: “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?”
Jesus continues to teach the disciples how to pray. Today’s Gospel follows directly after Jesus teaches them to pray what we know as the Our Father. Describing prayer in terms of friendship, Jesus tells a story about a man who goes to a friend at midnight to ask for three loaves of bread. At first, the friend is reluctant to offer help. But because man is persistent, the friend eventually goes to him and gives him what he needs. Even in our brokenness, we give to our children and those we love what they need. For those who ask the Father, how much more will he provide for us out of his unfathomable mercy.
God, just as Jesus taught the disciples to pray, teach me through the events of today to ask you for what I need. In the midst of the day, it’s very likely I will forget you. The man who asks for bread doesn’t ask for his own sake but to feed another who has arrived at his house from a journey. In the same way, I want to ask you to help me provide for the needs of others. Give me the grace to persist in knocking and to trust in the words of Jesus: “ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.