October 8
Thursday of the 27th
Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel: Luke 11:5-13
(Ask, Seek, Knock)
And he said to them, “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.
The Answer to Prayer. “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?”
Reflection:
Paul asks the
Galatians a wonderful question: did you receive the Holy Spirit by working hard
for Him, or by hearing the Good News of Jesus? The answer is the best news
there is - the Spirit is a gift! Nobody earns Him, and nobody is too late for
Him. That means every time we share the Gospel, we are opening a door for the
Holy Spirit to walk through, because faith comes through hearing.
Then Jesus tells
the story of a man knocking on his neighbor’s door at midnight. Here’s what I
love: he isn’t asking for himself! A friend has arrived hungry, and he has
nothing to set before him. Isn’t that every evangelizer? We knock on heaven’s
door for bread because someone we love is hungry. And Jesus promises that our
Father, who is far better than any sleepy neighbor, gives the Holy Spirit to
those who ask.
Who knew better
how to wait and ask than Mary? After the Ascension, the apostles gathered in
the Upper Room, and Scripture tells us they were praying together with Mary the
Mother of Jesus. That was the very first novena in the Church, and she was
right in the middle of it! The same Spirit who overshadowed her at Nazareth
came down on the whole Church at Pentecost. So, now, Beneath the Standard of Mary,
we ask boldly, because she has already shown us how heaven answers.
Who is hungry in
your life for the bread of the Gospel, and have you knocked on heaven’s door
for them? Will you ask the Holy Spirit today, with Mary praying beside you, to
fill you and send you? Keep knocking, because the Father loves to say yes.
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
