From: Luke 11:5-13
Effective Prayer
[5] And He (Jesus) said to them (the disciples), “Which of you who has a friend
will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; [6] for a
friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; [7]
and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my
children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything’? [8] I tell you,
though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet be-
cause of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs. [9] And I
tell you, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you. [10] For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks
finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. [11] What father among you, if
his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; [12] or if he asks
for an egg, will give him a scorpion? [13] If you then, who are evil, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
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Commentary:
5-10. One of the essential features of prayer is trusting perseverance. By this
simple example and others like it (cf. Luke 18:1-7) our Lord encourages us not
to desist in asking God to hear us. “Persevere in prayer. Persevere even when
your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”,
101).
9-10. Do you see the effectiveness of prayer when it is done properly? Are you
not convinced like me that, if we do not obtain what we ask God for, it is be-
cause we are not praying with faith, with a heart pure enough, with enough con-
fidence, or that we are not persevering in prayer the way we should? God has
never refused nor will ever refuse anything to those who ask for His graces in the
way they should. Prayer is the great recourse available to us to get out of sin, to
persevere in grace, to move God’s heart and to draw upon us all kinds of bles-
sing from Heaven, whether for the soul or to meet our temporal needs” (St. Jean-
Marie Vianney, “Selected Sermons”, Fifth Sunday after Easter).
11-13. Our Lord uses the example of human parenthood as a comparison to
stress again the wonderful fact that God is our Father, for God’s fatherhood is
the source of parenthood in Heaven and on earth (cf. Ephesians 3:15). “The God
of our faith is not a distant Being who contemplates indifferently the fate of men
— their desires, their struggles, their sufferings. He is a Father who loves His chil-
dren so much that He sends the Word, the Second Person of the Most Blessed
Trinity, so that by taking on the nature of man He may die to redeem us. He is
the loving Father who now leads us gently to Himself, through the action of the
Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, p.
84).
13. The Holy Spirit is God’s best gift to us, the great promise Christ gives His di-
sciples (cf. John 5:26), the divine fire which descends on the Apostles at Pente-
cost, filling them with fortitude and freedom to proclaim Christ’s message (Acts
2). “The profound reality which we see in the texts of Holy Scripture is not a re-
membrance from the past, from some golden age of the Church which has since
been buried in history. Despite the weaknesses and the sins of every one of us,
it is the reality of today’s Church and the Church in all times. ‘I will pray to the
Father,’ our Lord told His disciples, ‘and He will give you another Counsellor to
be with you for ever.’ Jesus has kept His promise. He has risen from the dead
and, in union with the eternal Father, He sends us the Holy Spirit to sanctify us
and to give us life” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 12).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
| First reading |
Galatians 3:1-5 © |
| You received the Spirit because you believed what was preached |
Are you people in Galatia mad? Has someone put a spell on you, in spite of the plain explanation you have had of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ? Let me ask you one question: was it because you practised the Law that you received the Spirit, or because you believed what was preached to you? Are you foolish enough to end in outward observances what you began in the Spirit? Have all the favours you received been wasted? And if this were so, they would most certainly have been wasted. Does God give you the Spirit so freely and work miracles among you because you practise Law, or because you believed what was preached to you?
| Responsorial Psalm |
Luke 1:69-75 © |
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets from of old.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,
from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He swore to Abraham our father
to grant us that free from fear,
and saved from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
| Gospel Acclamation |
Jn14:6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
| Ask, and it will be given to you |
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants.
‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’