Gospel Delights!

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Mal 3:13-20; Lk 11:5-13

In today’s gospel, it is interesting to see Jesus drawing on friendship to emphasize persistence in prayer. 

Jesus talks about two friends, one who asks for help and the other who delays his response. As friends, both of them enjoy the ‘freedom to bother’ the other, though in two different ways. One has the freedom to persist in asking. The other has the freedom to deny. The ‘asking’ and ‘denying’ are quite spontaneous. That is an important characteristic of friendship. If the one who asks does not feel obliged to respect the other’s privacy, the one who denies does not feel obliged to help his friend in need. Though spontaneity and freedom are mutual, the one who persists wins in the end. If prayer can be a spontaneous relationship with God, the freedom to fight with all our might, like the one who perseveres in the parable, will certainly be our privilege too.

Secondly, the verbs ‘ask, seek, knock’ together point to a continuous process. Come what may, the search or exploration cannot stop. In what they stand to mean in the context, they signify perseverance. Prayer is a perpetual relationship with God, through blessings and failures. 

Thirdly, Jesus gives us reassurance about God’s goodness. This time, Jesus draws on human nature to contrast perpetual Divine grace. If, as sinful people, we knew how to give good gifts out of love, how much more would God be gracious? Prayer, then, is a trustful relationship in God’s everlasting providence. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar