Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 464

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.

 

I ask a friend of mine, a devout, Catholic, about his successful children, “Do they practice our faith?”

He sadly replied, “None of my children attend church.”

They have bought into another belief system built around career, accomplishment, overcoming odds, and success. Its values are celebrated in the virtual world of overpaid athletes and entertainers. They look forward to luxurious vacations and comfortable retirement, preferably in a pleasant, sub-tropical climate. Sickness should be overcome; dementia should not happen, and death is not discussed. They have their rights and make their demands; they ask for nothing but what they deserve.

That belief system is radically different from Catholicism. Radically, in the sense of radix, the Latin word for root. It starts from a very different place. We believe that God in his infinite mercy and benevolence has given us Jesus. We have not earned or deserved a Savior or Messiah. We are no more than dust and to dust we shall return, except for the goodness of God.

When the Lord urges us to ask, seek, and knock he is speaking to his disciples. He has sent us on mission with a purpose but we’re going to need a lot of support. “Ask and you will receive!” he says.

Hopefully, we have already received much support from the Church, which provided our parents, family, friends, religion teachers and inspiring preachers. We have been formed in the values of generosity, trust, willingness, and curiosity. We come from a prayerful tradition, rooted in the history of Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Mary, and the Saints. We recognize a priesthood that first appeared in the prehistoric figure of Melchizedek. We have been trained in a moral code which respects the dignity of every person regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or political persuasion. We cannot believe that some people are good, and some people are bad because we habitually confess our sins. With all the usual precautions of boundaries and barriers, we are ready to engage the world as disciples of Jesus.

With that training we are ready to bring our skills and talents to the Lord’s mission. And we’re ready to ask for the gifts to accomplish it. Do you need more courage? Ask for it and believe it will come. Do you need the “wisdom to know the difference,” when the time for action is right and when it’s not, ask for it. Do you wonder what you should say? The Holy Spirit specializes in giving us the right words.

Do you think you’re not the right person for this job? You might be right but, as Saint Paul said, “…by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.”

Unlike successful people of this world who take what they want because they've earned it, we ask our Providential God to provide his Instruments of Peace with all they need.

Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. Matthew 18:19