Jesus is
such a wonderful teacher. He knows that
some of us have given up on turning to God.
It's the confusion that the prophet Malachi writes about (Malachi
3:13-20). The people are noticing that "indeed
evildoers prosper, and even tempt God with impunity."
We may not deny God's existence or lose our faith, but we've "grown
up" and don't turn to God "for every little thing" anymore.
Some of us
have had the experience that we’ve asked and asked for some really important
things, at times we thought that we (or someone we love), was in real
need. And we didn't receive. At least that’s our perception.
Some of us
just feel like poor Charlie Brown. Lucy
wants him to kick the ball, and Charlie really wants to kick it. At the last minute, Lucy pulls the ball away
and Charlie ends up flat on his back. It
happens time after time. Our experience
of not getting what we've asked for is just too great for us to try it again.
Jesus is
inviting us to give it another try. I
imagine Jesus just smiling when we say, "Forget it!" He understands our frustration; He really
wants to help us. Jesus, the wise
Teacher, takes us just a little bit deeper.
He isn't going to tell us that we’ve been asking for the wrong things;
though, of course, some of the things we've all asked for haven't been the
things He's wanted to give us.
What He
promises us is that God will give us the Holy Spirit when we ask Him. This just might be the key! How many times did it never occur to us to
ask for the Holy Spirit! The good
Teacher is helping us see that in all our seeking and knocking and asking, our
learning to ask for the Holy Spirit will always be rewarded. That’s the gift God wants to give us; that’s always
only what we need. Whether our hunger,
anxiety, and pain are small or unimaginably great, the Holy Spirit will always
give us hope and courage and peace. The
Holy Spirit will always keep us close to our Lord.
When we find
ourselves whining, it may be helpful to ask what’s so awful about living in
service of our God and one another. What’s
so distasteful about acting justly, loving tenderly, and
walking humbly with our God (Micah 6:8)? What’s happened to our
value system that the material pleasures of those who seem far from God are
more attractive than walking with Jesus at our side?
Through the
prophet Malachi, God speaks similar words.
“To those of you who trust I say: ‘You are mine’. I will make the sun of justice shine on you
with its healing rays.” These are words of love and
consolation for those who pray (and even lament) with persistence.
If this
month that’s dedicated to the Holy Rosary is about anything, it’s about
trusting persistence in prayer, not whining because we haven’t yet gotten what we
want. There’s certainly room for a
compassionate lament that the love of Jesus and Mary for this human race so
often goes unrequited, but that’s completely different from whining. Jesus
says, “Keep asking…keep seeking…keep knocking.”
(Luke 11:5-13) It’s not just about persistence, but persistence with a
good friend who can be counted on. God
is a better parent to us than we are to our own charges. Let's try it next time. Whenever we’re in need, and we're tempted not
to pray, let's seek, knock, and ask for the Holy Spirit.
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