A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 11:5-13
(Glory to you, O Lord!)
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?”
The Gospel of the Lord (Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!).
Reflection: “Seek and you will find. Be persistent”
Most of us are sports fans whether it may be basketball, baseball or football, etc. What do we notice when we observe successful athletes? We may notice that the individual athletes and teams that are persistent with their goals, and consistently practice their skills, teamwork and abilities are more likely to succeed. They continue to hone their craft and abilities, and they make sure to put in hours of work, to practice consistently with persistence and determination, with a strong desire to perform well, to win individually or as a team. To be the best version of themselves.
This can also be applied to seeking to practice holiness in daily life. We may be asking ourselves: “How can we achieve this? How can we encourage a strong desire in ourselves and the people around us to succeed with choosing to seek a daily holy life?
Well, we can make a decision to practice being the very best version of ourselves. To pray and consult with our Heavenly Father daily just like our Lord Jesus did, to worship Him, give thanks, ask for His guidance and mercy, and to lift up our petitions.
I suggest to make a vow in ourselves to be persistent, then jot down our goals on a daily journal and choose to have a true relationship of following the daily prompting with our Lord Jesus’ Spirit.
We may ask: How do we do that? Well, carve out intentional time of prayer “with him” and decide “to truly follow Jesus”. Converse with our Lord daily within our hearts and minds from the very beginning of each or our days, and at end of each waking day with all our questions and decisions, as well as share our joys and challenges. If we fail on one day because we forgot, … learn from it, gain wisdom, makes adjustments and start again.
Be persistent in prayer and lift up our concerns “daily” to our loving and merciful Lord! Remember that He already knows what we really need. The key is to humbly ask for “His will” to be done (not our own will, but God’s will). Then to ask for the faith to “humbly trust” that God will answer our prayers at the proper time, in His time, as God knows what is best.
Remember that whether God answers our prayers with a “Yes”, a “no”, or a “not yet”… it is for the best as “God knows what we really need. Guided daily by gently prompting of the Holy Spirit through each situation we will continue to gain wisdom and learn how to be true follower of our Lord and King!
Action for the Day: At the very first moment of our new day as we wake up and arise from our slumber, put on the mindset of giving gratitude to God first through every moment of our lives, whether our sleep patterns wake us up in the evening, in the wee early mornings or the middle of the day. Make consistent time to “adore and worship” our Lord Jesus, our creator, redeemer and God. Ask for forgiveness for our shortcomings from our hearts, receive God’s forgiveness and forgive ourselves, make a vow to learn from our mistakes to gain wisdom. Remember God disciplines the ones He loves because He loves each and every one of us. May we always be persistent with our prayers and ask the Lord to grant us the grace of His presence and the joy of His peace.
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