THE WORD
Mal 3: 13–20 / Lk 11: 5–13
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, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 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.’ 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.
“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. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 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?”
IN OTHER WORDS
In the Gospel today Jesus teaches His disciples about prayer. And inasmuch as He highlights the importance of persistence in prayer we should not overlook the fact that the context of the “persistent asking” is friendship.
We all have friends. And friends are not only “persistent”; they are for the most part “thick-faced.” They would just barge into our house, go straight to the fridge and eat everything there, then sit at the sala and watch TV.
In the Gospel Jesus said that the friend would get his bread out of persistence. But I don’t think that this friend would dare to bother the bread-owner if they were not friends. Really, I imagine that if the owner would not get up, the friend in need would climb up the window, steal some bread, and thank the breadowner the next day.
Friendship with God is a crucial element in our prayer life. If we do not have this relationship it would be very difficult for us to approach him in prayer and we would hesitate about knocking at His door when all of a sudden we find ourselves in need of “bread.” On the other hand, if we are friends with God, we know that we can shout at Him, cry before Him, dance with Him, sing for Him…all the while certain that the “bread” we ask for will be ours in His time and in the best possible way.
- Dante Salces Barril, SVD (Rome)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
