27TH THURSDAY HOMILY IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR B
27TH THURSDAY HOMILY IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: “ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE; SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND; KNOCK AND THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED TO YOU.”
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
Gal 3: 1 – 5, Lk 11: 5 – 13
Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
“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?”
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Jesus continues His teachings on prayer. Today the lesson is one of perseverance. He exhorts us to keep praying, to never to give up asking for what we need.
To illustrate this lesson, Jesus gives the parable of a man who knocks at the door of a neighbor in the middle of the night asking for some food for an unexpected visitor. The neighbor does not want to be bothered, and is not even willing to get out of bed. But Jesus, says that if the man keeps on asking, the neighbor will eventually get up and give the man all he needs. If an unwelcoming neighbor will give in to an inconvenient request, how much more will our loving heavenly Father heed the pleas of His children?
In the same vein, Jesus gives another example. He asks if it is possible for a father to give his child a snake instead of a fish or a scorpion instead of an egg. So, He concludes, “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?”
So, Jesus urges us to pray with persistence and perseverance: “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” In this statement, the Lord reveals that God is our loving Father who always listens to our prayers. And, in truth, He always answers our prayers. He has three answers:
First, His answer is ‘Yes’, when what we ask for is according to His will and is for our best welfare, both physical and spiritual. That is why, our prayer must always end with the words of Jesus in Gethsemane: “Not my will, but your will be done.”
Second, His answer is ‘No’, when what we ask for is harmful to our soul. St. James says something about this in his Letter: “You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (4:3). And even if what we are asking for is something that is objectively good, His answer is ‘No’, when it is not according to His will and plan for us, since it may jeopardize our eternal salvation. For instance, many people ask for riches. But God may not grant this request, knowing that there is real danger that we become proud and materialistic.
But most often, His answer is ‘Yes, but not yet’. God knows what is best for us, and when is the best time to grant our request. A favor given ahead of time may pose more harm than good. We see this in the life of Jesus. He always waited for the ‘kairos’, the ‘appointed time’, to accomplish His mission. Hence, He urges us to patiently wait for God’s time.
Venerable Fulton Sheen said, “Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is ‘timing’. It waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.” In short, patience is learning to wait for God’s right time. For, eventually, in His inscrutable wisdom, “everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
There is, however, one more lesson that is oftentimes overlooked. Most of us, when we pray, we oftentimes think only of material benefits: health, job, family, protection, and the like. Seldom do we ask for spiritual benefits such as God’s forgiveness, inner peace, enlightenment, protection of our soul and the many gifts of the Holy Spirit.
However, aside from material and spiritual blessings, we should ask for the greatest blessing of all – the Spirit of God: “How much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” We ask to obtain, not only blessings, but the source of all blessings – God Himself. In other words, we ask that God remain in us, and we remain always with God – and that our will becomes one with His will. This is what heaven is all about.
An anonymous author said: “How far is heaven? It’s not very far. When you live close to God, heaven is right where you are.”
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