LK 11:5-13
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Placing Ourselves in God’s Hands
One of the lovely parts of reading the Gospels is seeing how Jesus uses images that are simple and close to home. His hearers must have thought, yes, I know exactly how it is to lend to a friend or give to a child.
This passage first made me think about parenting, since I have many friends who are parents of young children and care for their needs so generously. But then I saw how Jesus asks us to imagine knocking on a neighbor’s door and to consider God’s gifts to us. Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus encourages each of us to be like a child, and this passage also asks us to put ourselves in the child’s place. Let us reflect today on how we have seen children ask for what they need, genuinely and with trust, and how we can share our needs with God in prayer.
—Beth Franzosa is a Religious Studies teacher and the Director of Adult Formation at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis.
Prayer
More than ever I find myself in the hands of God.
This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth.
But now there is a difference;
the initiative is entirely with God.
It is indeed a profound spiritual experience
to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.
—Fr. Garrett Gundlach, SJ