Before You Ask

June 19, 2008
Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Till like a fire there appeared the prophet whose words were as a flaming furnace. Their staff of bread he shattered, in his zeal he reduced them to straits; By God's word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire. Sirach 48:1-3

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:8

Piety

Our Father, hear me call your name.
You are in Heaven. Make a place for us with you.
Holy is your name.
We wait with hope for the coming of your kingdom.
We pray that your will, not ours, will be done here on earth as it is done in heaven.
Give us what we need for this day.
Help us to share our manna with others in need.
Forgive us our debts and sins. Give us the sense of justice and relationship to realize that we also must forgive those who violate us.
Lead us not into temptation and protect us from forces that will entice us there.
Deliver us from evil into your hands.
God, what you provide to us is the kingdom, the power and the glory now and forever.
Amen.


Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/061908.shtml

Ben Sirach gives us a tribute to the greatness of the prophet Elijah “whose words were like a flaming furnace.” Yes…Elijah spoke the proverbial “truth to power” when he had to confront King Ahab on the drought, on the unlawful murder and on taking over the land of his neighbors. Yet he often went up on the mountain and waited to hear God tell him what to do and say. He went to the desert and waited to hear God tell him what to do and say. He hid in the forest and waited to hear God tell him what to do and say.

Elijah had to discern what the real message was…and sometimes it was not in the thunder and the rain, not in the fire and the earthquake. Sometimes, God would teach Elijah to pray in the simplest ways by just listening for the smallest sound.

Jesus today takes the disciples aside and tells them that they do not need to call down thunder and lightning, fire and rain to get the attention of God. He tells us we don’t need a lot of words either. We don’t need them because our Father who is in heaven, knows what we need before we ask.

The Lord is not playing some cheap, mind-reading parlor game. He knows what we need because he dwells within us…he is us. We have him in our minds, on our lips, in our hearts and in our souls. He knows what we need because he loves us. Like a mother knows when her baby is hungry, the Lord knows for what we hunger. Like a father knows when his child is lonely, the Lord knows for what we long. Think of how you protect that which you made. If you built a house, you care for it daily. If you raised a child you love her or him every minute even when they are not with you. That is the same with the Lord. God knows what we need because in Eucharist, the Lord’s very being is consumed into our very being. What we need is what he needs.

Imagine you are settled into you quiet place this morning, or this afternoon, or tonight. You don’t know how to start your encounter with the Lord. So listen to his words in today’s Gospel. Just start by calling out the Lord’s name. “Abba! Abba Father. You are the potter and we are the clay. We are the work of your hands.” Tell him what you wish for. Tell him what you will do in order to get that wish. Ask the Lord to walk with you and protect you from the evil in the world and the evil in your heart. Tell the Lord that you want to be just like Him and help others to get what they need in life.

Action

Before we can get God’s love, we must ask for forgiveness. Before we can get God’s love, we must offer our own personal forgiveness to others.

Write down something that you want to ask God to forgive you for.

Write down something that you want to forgive in others.