Today's Gospel

The Greatest Gift You Could Ask For

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we take a few moments to reflect on the gospel of the day and allow the Spirit to stir within us and look for a word or a phrase or an idea to anchor our day in. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke 11:5-13.

"And Jesus said to them, 'Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey and I have nothing to set before him." 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.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish, give him a serpent, or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

What jumps out at you today? Jesus got some great ones, doesn't he? He's got the fish or the serpent, the egg or the scorpion. But just there's so much here, right? We've got friendship, we've got perseverance, really a lesson about perseverance in prayer here. Jesus is saying, "This guy, he might not get up because he's your friend, but if you keep at it, if you keep knocking, if you keep persevering, he's going to realize, 'I'm not going to get any sleep. I better get up and give this guy the three loaves.'" And so it's a lesson in perseverance in prayer. It's a lesson in friendship. It's a lesson in asking and receiving.

And just right at the end - and I haven't picked up on this before - Jesus says, "If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" So when Jesus was saying, "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you," we probably all think about different things to ask for, to seek, to knock. But then Jesus at the end, he drops in, not if you ask your father for anything, but how much more will the Heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

When did you last ask for God the Father to pour down the Holy Spirit on your life? When did you last ask for God the Father to pour the Holy Spirit into your heart? And Solomon was wise because he asked for wisdom rather than riches. But there's a new paradigm with the gospel. And the new paradigm is there's something more than wisdom. And the something more than wisdom is the Holy Spirit. And if we put together a list of things that we're asking for and seeking and knocking, sometimes we leave the most important things off. And so that's what jumped out at me today.

What jumped out at you today? I'm going to be asking the Holy Spirit just to flood my life-- or rather, I'm going to be asking God the Father to flood my life with the Holy Spirit today. What are you going to be asking God the Father for? What are you seeking? What door are you knocking on? Have an amazing day. Be bold and Be Catholic.