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Pray Knock Ask

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test."

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 the visitor 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?" (Luke 11:1-13)

The first paragraph teaches us how to pray.  The wording is a bit different from the Lord’s Prayer we pray at Mass.   Noteworthy is the prayer to forgive those who trespass against us versus forgive the debt owed to us.  It’s a big difference.  In Jesus’ time many of the poor were in debt often at the hands of the rich seeking the poor’s land and harvests.  One bad harvest due to weather, for example, and the poor could not pay back their debt.  Therefore, Jesus tells us to forgive the debt owed to us.  In doing so the poor can be saved from destitute and slavery to the wealthy, if the wealthy forgive. This attitude reminds me of the desire to forgive student loans that can be massive and drive the young into years of financial stress – even poverty and despair.  Marriages are postponed; families suffer.

The second paragraph reminds us never to give up when fighting for what is right and just.  We must persist.  We should not only fight on behalf of those who are friends, but for those we do not know.  We must get out of bed and open our doors to be charitable even when it is midnight; that is, when it is inconvenient, and our mood may be dark.  It’s too easy to close our eyes and go back to sleep.

The third paragraph focuses on charity and compassion.  It also relates to prayer: “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.”  Sometimes our prayers are not answered, and we might think instead we have been handed a snake or scorpion.  Not so, because our Father in heaven gives us the Holy Spirit when we ask.  It’s then up to us to use the Spirit’s gifts to find the fish and eggs we seek.  Even so, life does have a way of rotting those fish and breaking those eggs.  Indeed, that’s life.  Life is a long lesson in humility.  

Deacon David Pierce

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