Just ASK!
Gift of the heavenly Father
Jesus says today, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”(Luke 11,9).
Let me ask you. Do you have anything to ask? Do you really want to ask something to God? We don’t usually ask because it brings about consequences that we don’t want to see. We don’t want to be involved in business that does not benefit us. We are also so shy that we do not dare to ask a favor, rather we keep it to ourselves. Asking seems inferior. We don’t want to be seen lacking something.
Likewise, do you really seek something invisible and valuable, not mundane things like car, hobby, well-known food, and luxury things. We already have everything so we don’t normally seek. Seeking takes time to look into oneself, which we don’t want. Instant and fast results are only desirable. We don't want to wait.
What about knocking? Is there anyone who knocks a door in order to open something new and unknown? We are afraid of change. We are just busy with comfortable things and daily routines. We don’t do adventurous things for we are just fine with keeping everything status quo. We don’t actually knock because we have fear to encounter someone. We don’t visit; we don’t say hello first; we don’t make efforts to get to know others. We just don’t knock at all.
The Corona pandemic has deepened our choices of not asking, not seeking and not knocking. Since social distance is virtuous, who wants to come closer, stay together and open to others? It is a disease in these days that we have so many reasons to excuse us from sharing and growing up which is only possible through human interactions such as asking, seeking and knocking.
At a distance in the pandemic, we need to make more efforts to ask, seek and knock. But we go in the opposite direction.
I think of the heavenly Father who wants to give something valuable and yet the children just do not ask, seek and knock. How could the Father give anything to the children who don’t want anything at all? If it is a gift, someone might receive it.
But the best gift the heavenly Father would like to give is Himself, not gifts. The gift giver is more important than a gift itself. The Holy Spirit is the Father’s best gift because the Holy Spirit is God who leads us asking, seeking and knocking to be our best selves.
The combined first letters of A of ask, S of seek and K of knock are ASK. So let us ask without self-complacence, laziness, and fear. When we just do it, God the Father can give us abundant gifts we could ever imagine.
The evidence is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ whom we are about to receive in the Eucharist today. It is a gift of the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son. Just ASK!
