In today’s first reading (Galatians 3:1-5), like a loving parent speaking to forgetful children, St. Paul chastises the Galatians because they have forgotten how they have received the gift of salvation. He reminds them that they are saved, not because they have kept the law, but because Jesus has died for their sins. Faith is totally a gift from God that cannot be earned by performing deeds. It is God’s action that brings faith. The good deeds one does are the result of responding to the action God has begun through the working of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s responsorial psalm comes from a most unusual source—from a New Testament gospel verse (Luke 1:69‑75). It is taken from The Benedictus, the beautiful prayer that Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, said after regaining his speech. In it, Zechariah proclaims the majesty of God Who has been faithful in keeping the promises made to the ancestors of the Jewish people. God always has been, continues to be, and will always be, true to the promises made of old. God said that He would bless the descendants of Abraham and work mighty signs in their midst, including the sending of a savior. God desires all people to be blessed by receiving the divine gifts bestowed upon them through Jesus, the descendant of Abraham and King David.
In the Gospel (Luke 11:5-13), Jesus informs His disciples that God will give the best to those who are called to be children of God, especially when they turn to God in prayer. The Greek form of the verbs used here for asking, seeking, and knocking are of a particular type that refer to a continual and/or continuous action. Thus, they could be translated as “ask and keep on asking, . . .seek and keep on seeking, . . .knock and keep on knocking.” Jesus not only tells His disciples to be in a constant act of being in relationship with God, but He also tells them that God is more loving to those who call upon their heavenly Father than any earthly parent is to his/her own children. God wants the very best for everyone.
As I reflect on the readings, a few things stand out. First, the Lord Jesus expects us to turn our attention repeatedly to God; second, God knows what is best for us and is more than willing to give us what is truly best for us; third, there is no way we can earn the magnificent gifts of God’s love – they are truly gifts from Him.
It is not because God needs to be persuaded to be loving toward us that Jesus tells us to ask and keep on asking. It is not because God is deaf to our first pleas. God wants us to be in constant relationship. If we are always praying to God, then God is always on our minds. That’s why Jesus tells us to “ask and keep on asking.” We need to acknowledge our need for God and that we can’t do anything without the help of the Lord Jesus. When we honestly can admit our dependence on God by constantly being aware of our need for His intervention, it is then that God is more than willing to give us what we truly need.
God is more loving than any parent. Jesus refers to the fact that some humans give in to the requests made of them because they get tired of being bothered by people’s constant nagging. God is willing to give the very best to those who admit their need for divine assistance. And what is great is that God knows, even better than we do, what will truly be most beneficial for us. How great God is! God wants to bestow the very best on us. All we need do is turn to God, open our hands, and receive what God gives.
God has already bestowed great gifts on us: life, salvation, and the promise of eternal life. These presents, which God freely gives, are not ours by any sort of inalienable rights, nor can we earn them because of our actions. As a child, I remember having the image of God being in heaven and having a book of merits and demerits. Once we “earned” so many merits, God would give us something. That is not the image that I have of God today. God is gracious and giving. After we are aware of the gifts of God, our response should be that we want to do good deeds as a sign of our appreciation of what God has bestowed upon us. Failing to act upon the gifts God has given is being ungrateful to God.
Parents know when they have given a gift to one of their children, especially if it is something that has been quite precious. They want their child to use that gift in the way the parents intended it to be used. If a son or daughter would take the gift, would never unwrap it, and would just put it up on a shelf, that offspring would not benefit from the gift that the parent had given. It would also signify that she or he did not appreciate the time and thought and possible expense that the parent had put into the gift. So it is with the gifts God gives us.
Our response today should be like that voiced by Zechariah as he contemplated how God was fulfilling the divine promises. He said that as result of God setting us free (saving us), we are now “free to worship God without fear, holy and righteous in the sight of God, all the days of our life.”
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!