Our wickedness shall not overpower the
unspeakable goodness and mercy of God; our dullness shall not overpower God’s wisdom, nor our infirmity God’s omnipotence.
- John of Kronstadt God’s kingdom come, God’s will be done, on earth as in
heaven.
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Malachi 3:13-20b
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 Luke 11:5-13 Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up
and give his friend all he wants.
‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If
you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Reflection on the Scriptures
The Gospel of Luke urges us: Ask. Seek. Knock. God sees us and hears us. Now, that doesn’t translate into getting everything we want the way we want it and when we want it. For me, it wasn’t that if I kept on
praying, God would finish my dissertation for me, ensuring that everything was clear, concise, and grammatically correct. Persistent prayer isn’t about wearing God down and getting your way. It was that if I kept on praying, I would center myself where I needed to be – wrapped in God’s steadfast love and grace.
Today’s Gospel ends with a reminder that God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. That gift
includes wisdom, courage, strength, assurance, and goodness. All gifts that I need in times of stress, despair, and doubt. So, I will continue asking, seeking, and knocking persistently.
-by Becky Nickerson
The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A. Kempis https://amzn.to/40FrikB Paperback and Kindle versions available BOOK
ONE: Thoughts Helpful in the Life of a Soul
The Fifth Chapter: Reading the Holy Scripture TRUTH, not eloquence, is to be sought in reading the Holy Scriptures; and every part must be read in the spirit in which it was written. For in the Scriptures we ought to seek profit rather than polished diction. Likewise we ought to read simple and devout books as
willingly as learned and profound ones. We ought not to be swayed by the authority of the writer, whether s/he be a great literary light or an insignificant person, but by the love of simple truth. We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is said. People pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever. God speaks to us in many ways . . .
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