If he does not get up to give him the loaves because of friendship, he will get up to give him what he needs because of his persistence. – Luke 11:8

       My special son, David, doesn’t take no for an answer. He is visually impaired so music is his means of expression. When he was about nine, he asked for a new keyboard. From morning till night, he hounded me about when he would get his new keyboard.

       Finally, I got him one for his birthday. A week later, he asked for a microphone. Then he badgered me for two weeks for speakers for his mic. Next, he relentlessly asked for a mic stand every day for a week. I put my foot down when he asked for a van because he wanted to go on a concert tour!

        Did you ever think you can do this to our God? Yet this is what Jesus is saying. We can badger Him with our prayers because He is our Dad. Yes, we can keep asking until we receive an answer. Yes, we can keep looking until we find it. Yes, we can keep knocking until the door is opened. Jesus is actually telling us to persistently ask our heavenly Father until we are answered. It may not be the answer we desire, but the point is to keep asking and praying with childlike trust. Ronna Singson-Ledesma (ronna_ledesma@yahoo.com.ph)

Reflection:“God has of His own motion placed Himself under the law of prayer, and has obligated Himself to answer the prayers of men. He has ordained prayer as a means whereby He will do things through men as they pray, which He would not otherwise do.” (E.M.Bounds)

Abba Father, it’s enough for me to know that I have a Dad I can run to anytime.

Paul is sad to see that some of the Galatian community are returning to their past sins. Discipleship is about making a permanent change in our lives and being conformed to the person of Christ who is our ideal. Through this, Paul teaches us to rely on the Spirit rather than the flesh. Let us pray for the grace to follow his advice and experience true and lasting change.

1 O stupid Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 I want to learn only this from you: did you receive the Spirit from works of the law, or from faith in what you heard? 3 Are you so stupid? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? 4 Did you experience so many things in vain? — if indeed it was in vain. 5 Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you and works mighty deeds among you do so from works of the law or from faith in what you heard?

Luke 1:69, 70-71, 72, 73-75

R: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.

69 He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David. (R) 70 Through his holy prophets he promised of old 71 that he would save us from our enemies, from the hand of all who hate us. (R) 72 He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. (R) 73 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us 74 free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, 75 holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. (R)

God the Father is willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Jesus assures us that the Father will pour out His blessings on His people, especially when we ask for them. The message is to never give up. God will not let our prayer go unheard if we persevere in it. We may not get the answer we want but the perfect one will always be forthcoming.

Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.

5 Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 7 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.’ 8 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. 9 And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? 12 Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13 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?”

Thank You Lord for: __________________

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Hosea 6-10

A LESSON FOR ME TO LEARN

The Lord is at His best as a teacher today, with His important lesson on persistent prayer embedded in concrete images. A friend in need knocks at his pal’s door in the middle of the night with an urgent request. For Jews, who had a special predilection for the virtue of hospitality, a reluctant host who does nothing to satisfy the needs of his unwanted and unbidden guest would court shame and loss of face.

       What friend or neighbor among us would not give in to such a request, if only to stop the importuning and thus return to bed quietly? Persistence, the Lord in effect says, would be sure to win the game. The favor would most likely be granted, for good riddance. The lesson is on the power of persistence, not a lesson on good manners and right conduct, or on how to squeeze something from your neighbor in the middle of the night.

         I would like to confess that the lesson on persistence is one that I still need to learn. I am rather self-reliant. I tend to depend more on my inner resources than on others. This trait makes it hard for me to ask favors from others or to ask them to do for me what I think I could do on my own. This is hardly a virtue to be proud of, I know. For it also means I am not persevering, persistent and fervent enough in my prayer. Yes, dear friends, it does rub off on my ability to pray with persevering faith.

       Today’s Gospel convicts me. Pardon me, but this old man, with academic titles and all, still needs to learn a lesson that people of simpler faith readily understand. God is obviously not done with me yet.

         Yesterday’s Gospel points to the real core of the matter. And it has to do with the greatest lesson from the Greatest Lover of all time — God who is Father. “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you have a prayer that has remained unanswered today? How persistent are you in praying for it?

Dear Lord, increase my faith and make me persistent in calling on to You for my needs. Help me to always trust that You are listening to me. Amen.