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Thursday of the First
Week of Lent • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II
✝️ Today's Mass Readings
First Reading: Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 7-8
Gospel: Matthew 7:7-12
📖 The Gospel - Matthew 7:7-12
Jesus makes one of
the most breathtaking promises in all of the Gospels: ask, and it will be given
to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened. Not maybe.
Not if you're good enough. Will be. Every time.
🙏 Gospel Reflection
Queen Esther
understood desperate prayer. In today's first reading, she is alone before God,
no crown, no royal robes, covered in ashes, fasting for three days, terrified,
and she pours out her heart in one of the most raw and honest prayers in all of
Scripture. She wasn't performing. She was begging. And God heard her.
That is the kind of prayer Jesus is talking
about in Matthew 7. Not the polished prayer. The prayer that comes from the
place in us that knows we cannot fix this ourselves. Ask. Not suggest. Not a hint. Ask. Seek. With your whole heart, the way you'd search for something
precious you've lost. Knock. With both fists if you have to.
The most beautiful image Jesus gives here is
the father who gives good things to his children. Not a judge. Not a
scorekeeper. A father. When my kids were small, and they came to me with a need,
I didn't cross-examine them to see if they'd earned it. I just wanted to help
them. Jesus says your heavenly Father is infinitely more than that. How much
more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask?
I have knocked on that door so many times. I've
had three strokes in my life, two of them two days apart, and no matter what, I
just kept forging forward; believe me when I say the valleys I've seen in front
of me have been so deep that I couldn't see the light. And I can tell you with
everything I have, He always opened doors, created change, and much-needed healing
in my life. Not always the way I expected. Not always on my timeline. But He
always opened it. God’s Will is all I desire, no matter what the outcome.
💭 Reflection Question
What is the door you
have been standing in front of this Lent, maybe afraid to knock too hard, maybe
doubting whether He will really answer, and what would it mean to trust Matthew
7:7 completely today?
📿 Today's Rosary - The Sorrowful Mysteries
Today's Focus
Mystery: The Scourging at the
Pillar
In His Passion, Jesus
asked the Father in Gethsemane, and the answer was the cross. He trusted the
Father even when the door that opened led to suffering. As you pray these
decades today, bring your unanswered prayers and trust that a Father who gave
His own Son will not withhold what you truly need.
🌹 Our Lady of Fatima - Today's Connection
Our Lady of Fatima is
herself a profound answer to prayer, a mother sent by God in response to the
desperate knocking of a world in crisis. She came to Fatima because God heard
the prayers of the faithful crying out for peace and guidance. When you pray
your Rosary today, remember that Mary herself is proof that God answers the
door. She is the knock that became a visit. Bring your deepest needs to her
today and let her carry them to her Son.
🕊️ Closing Prayer
Father, I am at the
door today. I am asking, seeking, knocking, with everything I have. I trust
that You hear me. I trust that You are good. I trust that whatever You open
will be exactly what I need. I desire your will in my life, Lord. Amen.
©2026 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
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