Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Lectionary: 296

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."


Concerning biblical passages about petitions, I suppose, most of us think immediately  of Matthew 7:7 --
Ask and it will be given to you; 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.
This and the passage from Saint John are very similar and, perhaps, amount to the same thing. Jesus assures us we may and should ask for whatever we need. 
In his book about the killing of Osama Bin Laden, No Easy Day, Matt Bissonnette describes his training, experience, and preparation for that mission. Throughout his career as a Navy SEAL, he had only to ask for whatever equipment he wanted; it would be given to him. Although he and his comrades had the same training, each had his own style and they preferred different weapons. Their superiors trusted the warriors to know what they should have and to ask for it. No one needed to supervise and approve their every choice because they clearly understood the mission and its difficulty. 
I hear the Lord trusting his disciples in the same way. Whatever you need as you announce the Gospel, just ask. Individual Christians have their own genius, talent, style, sensitivities, and sensibilities. There are no two alike and the more you know of them they less they resemble each other. Even when they come from the same household and take up the same work, each one's expression will be particular to themself. 
The Christian lives within a community of prayer. This is what we do. It is liturgical and devotional, communal and personal. Prayer forms and informs our imagination; we see and experience our inner life and the world around us through the lens of God's inspiration. 

Great Blue Heron in flight at Lake Mt. St. Francis

Adventuring out of our prayer into contact and conversation with "the world," we bring the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit with us. God accompanies us. 
Unlike a SEAL mission, we cannot fail although we might be surprised and frustrated with the consequences of our efforts. Disappointment will remind us that "Man proposes and God disposes." If the inspiration is from God the result will be more than satisfactory, though we might not see it clearly at the time. 
If our motives were tainted by selfish ambitions, we can be grateful to discover that. Penance and a sense of humor will follow. 
From the day the Lord called Abram and Sarai we have known that the Lord goes with us. We are sent to be a blessing to the nations. He went down into Egypt and brought us out again. He travelled with us to Babylon, Asia, Africa and Europe. We are not sent to be successful, but to be faithful with the assurance, "...whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you."