GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 11:5-13
Ask, and it will be given to you.
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!’
The Gospel of the Lord.
Gospel Reflection Thursday, Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Luke 11:5-13
In the Middle Eastern culture of Jesus’ time hospitality was a sacred duty; indeed, it still is in that part of the world today. It is inconceivable that someone in desperate need who knocks on the door of a friend would be refused hospitality, even if it was in the middle of the night. Jesus is saying, ‘if that is how hospitable you are, think of how hospitable God is’. If you are prepared to get up in the middle of the night when a friend knocks on your door, then you should never be slow to knock on God’s door because God is an even more wonderful friend to you. Jesus encourages us in that gospel reading, to knock on God’s door, to seek out God, to petition God. It is a ringing endorsement of the prayer of petition. What are we to ask God for? To put that question another way, ‘What does God want to give us?’ At the end of that gospel reading Jesus declares that what God wants to give us is the Holy Spirit. ‘How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him’. God wants to give us what we most need, and what we most need is the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who empowers us to take the path God wants us to take, the path that leads to fullness of life for ourselves and for others, here and now and in eternity. Jesus insists that if we keep on asking God for that gift of the Spirit we won’t find God wanting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfN_La3owws
Cc @Female Perspective @Guru @pseudonym @Miss Finest Wine e.t.c