[Pearls Ep 128: Answering atheism Tuesday.]
In this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 11:1-13) the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. And how wonderful for us that they did, because Jesus fulfills their request by giving them (and us) the Our Father.
But just like ginsu knives – there’s more.
Jesus carries on to teach “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.”
Elsewhere (John 14:14) Jesus says, “If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
What exactly does it mean that we have only to knock and the door will be opened; that we have only to ask and Jesus will do it?
Well, to paraphrase that great theologian, Bill Clinton, it depends on what the meaning of “it” is.
We’ve all heard various assessments of what Jesus is getting at in these passages – obviously it’s not a blank check. Indeed, in the passage from Luke, Jesus emphasizes that the request that will always be answered is the request for the Holy Spirit.
But it seems there’s more to it than that – and so there is. That is what we look at in this week’s Pearls episode, including free will, three basic principles for deepening our petitions to God, and wisdom from spiritual masters St. Bede, St. Augustine and St. Catherine of Siena.
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith – Interior Life