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“Ask, And It Shall Be Given”
by Alexandre Bida, c. 1858 |
Readings for Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Galatians 3:1-5
O stupid Galatians!
Who has bewitched you,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
I want to learn only this from you:
did you receive the Spirit from works of the law,
or from faith in what you heard?
Are you so stupid?
After beginning with the Spirit,
are you now ending with the flesh?
Did you experience so many things in vain?–
if indeed it was in vain.
Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you
and works mighty deeds among you
do so from works of the law
or from faith in what you heard?
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Commentary on Gal 3:1-5
St. Paul lashes out at the Galatians (stupid - other translations use the word “foolish,” or ask “are you mad”) for succumbing to the exhortations of the Judaizers. They have apparently become focused on “works of the law,” the legalistic practices thought to earn them salvation, or to gain favor in the eyes of God. In either case, St. Paul asks rhetorically if these hollow practices caused the Spirit to manifest itself in them. Was it not, he asks, the Gospel of Christ, and him crucified, proclaimed by the apostle that had brought about the works of the Spirit?
CCC: Gal 3:2 476
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Luke 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75
R. (68) Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; He has come to his people.
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Commentary on Lk 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75
These strophes are the opening lines of the great Canticle of Zachariah sung to the newborn St. John the Baptist by his father at the occasion of his naming. He reminds the infant St. John that God is faithful to his promises and proclaims the Savior’s mission of salvation, a promise to Abraham, as a fulfillment of that promise. These introductory verses serve as a profession of faith in God and the Messiah of whom St. John will be the forerunner. Zachariah sings of the salvation first promised to Abraham, now to be fulfilled in Jesus.
CCC: Lk 1:73 706
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Luke 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?”
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Commentary on Lk 11:5-13
In this passage from St. Luke’s Gospel, the Lord continues his response to the disciples' request to “teach us how to pray.” The Lord uses the story of the one friend asking another for bread (a strong Eucharistic reference) in the middle of the night as an instrument to tell them that God will always answer prayers, but in his own time. (“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.”) He makes his message clear in the verses that follow: “ask and you will receive.”
"What of a friend for whom friendship does not mean enough positively to make him happy to get up and come to the rescue? [v.8.] Even such a 'friend' will, nonetheless, get up and do the necessaries, because there is the prospect of the shame to be owned if one were to let down a friend in such a situation. One’s name would be mud, not only with one’s friend, but also with the wider community: here is the man who treated his friend like this, and caused him great embarrassment with his guest! The initial judgment is strengthened yet further: no friend, however poor a friend, would fail to come to one’s rescue in such a situation." [4]
CCC: Lk 11:5-13 2613; Lk 11:9 2761; Lk 11:13 443, 728, 2623, 2671
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Reflection:
The passage from Galatians, in other translations, uses the words foolish and senseless in the place of “stupid.” The apostle moves from the theme of justifying his own position in the hierarchy of apostles back to an emotional attack on those who would have the people believe they can somehow earn salvation through religious practices. Paul continues to fight the Judaizers, who came to the Galatian community, and who are continuing to hold up the Law of Moses as supreme over the new covenant the Lord has brought, taught by St. Paul.
In a very real sense, things have not changed much to this day where faith is concerned. Look at the reaction of many members of our faith community when even minor changes are introduced to our worship. Now imagine a people who now must face a radical change. Even though these early converts were given the gift of the Holy Spirit, they were trying to adopt the legalistic ways of thought exhorted by those who believe one must first convert to Judaism in order to be Christian. Is it any wonder Paul goes on a bit of a tear? Sometimes it’s even hard for us, all these years later, to remember that Jesus changed everything.
We come now to St. Luke’s Gospel. We actually are given the Gospel twice today. The first time it is in the form of the Responsorial Psalm, where we hear the beginning of the Canticle of Zachariah as he prophesies about the coming of Jesus, and the great gift that is for all of us.
In the Gospel’s continuing story of Jesus’ return to Jerusalem, we hear the familiar phrase: “ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened.” The Lord frames that offer and assures us with a brief analogy, asking, if a child asked for fish, would his loving father give him a snake? Or, if he asked for an egg, would he give him a scorpion?
On the surface it sounds like if we ask God for anything, he will just give it to us. And, if we quit reading the Scripture right there, we could set ourselves up for a real disappointment later. God does not just swoop down and grant wishes like some genie in a bottle. Just because we want something, even something good, does not mean that we automatically get it. God has his own purpose and time.
If we look at the very end of the Scripture passage, we see: “how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Even in the parallel passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew (Matthew 7:11) he qualifies the answers to prayers with: “give good things to those who ask him.”
God did not give us life to live it for us. He did not create us as slaves, he gave us free will. He did not create the earth and all that is in it to constantly reshape it for our safety. However, we are given the Holy Spirit, free for the asking. That Spirit supports us in times of difficulty and gives us strength in the face of adversity. All we need to do is ask from our hearts and it is ours. Come Holy Spirit. It is a reality St. Paul recognized, and the reason for his zeal (and language) as he saw the understanding being diluted by his detractors.
Pax
[1] The Picture used today is “Ask, And It Shall Be Given” by Alexandre Bida, c. 1858.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] John Nolland, Luke 9:21–18:34, vol. 35B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1993), 627.
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