THE WORD
Est 4, 12-, 14-16, 23-25/Mt 7, 7-12
Jesus said to his disciples, “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. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”
IN OTHER WORDS
“God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.” This acclamation of bold faith, in other words, is the promise of Jesus in today’s gospel. It is spiritual positive thinking, one that we ought to remember and say many times over, not only when all is nice and easy, but also especially when things do not go as expected or planned.
Jesus reveals here what kind of God we have. He is a generous giver when we ask; He guides and leads us towards the truth and He opens up doors and windows of opportunity. Not because we are good, but because He is a Good Father. Prayer, therefore, even in its simplest form, is valuable. It is useful to us, and it works. This presupposes, of course, that what we are asking and seeking is good.
We have a benevolent God. He does not glory in giving us stones and snakes, or food, or sickness, or poverty and pain. Our lowliness does not make God mightier. On the contrary, it is precisely because God is almighty that he is merciful, compassionate, loving, and forgiving. Living in a contingent corruptible world, our only resort is a Father God.
Such trust in the certainty of Jesus’ assurance that God answers our prayers favorably need not be a blind leap of faith. We will truly feel assured if we look back at all the goodness of God to us in the past. Has God really been lacking towards us? If He has, we would not even be here reading this Good News today. We lag in faith when we are forgetful of the previous favors we already enjoyed from God. We saw, and thus we believe. Happy are those who have a long memory of anything that is good in their life because those are divine footsteps in our earthly journey.
Finally, Jesus tells us how to multiply goodness in life. Give and share, and the good comes back to you. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Call it the golden rule, principle of reciprocity, good karma, law of generosity and abundance, the miracle of multiplication. Jesus says this several times in different ways. Give and you will receive, forgive and you will be forgiven. Unless you die, you will not live. Lose your life and you and you will find it. Five loaves became five thousand. The two cents became the biggest offering. And the list goes on. Are we still to persist in our self-centeredness and hoarding mentality?
- Fr. Emil Lim, SVD | Saint Jude Catholic School, Manila
The Word in other words 2016
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.
