Good Gifts By Beth DeCristofaro
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
I want to learn only this from you: did you receive the Spirit from works of the law, or from faith in what you heard? Are you so stupid? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? (Galatians 3:2)
I
tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their
friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his
persistence. … If you then, who are
wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the
Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him? (Luke 11:8,13)
Piety
Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, you Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
(Collect from the Mass of the Day)
Study
The God of all Creation, in human form, is welcoming us to knock and be received! “Three a.m.? No problem, if I don’t give you what you need because of our friendship, I’ll give it to you because of your persistence.” God wants us! In welcoming us, God’s will, that we are open to God’s presence everywhere becomes that much more real. Why such frail, sinful and stupid beings? Through us, God’s glory and majesty become even more visible and the Kingdom of God, already present, is continually built into perfection. Of course, we can refuse to knock.
“Long, long ago on earth, great drought has happened: all rivers, streams, wells dried out, and trees, shrubs and herbs withered, and people and animals were dying of thirst. Once night, a little girl came out of her house with a small dipper to find some water for her sick mother. This girl didn’t find water anywhere, and, out of fatigue, laid on a grass field and fell asleep. When she woke up and touched the dipper, she almost spilled water out of it.
“It was full of clean, fresh water. The girl got excited and wanted to drink, but then she thought: it won’t be enough for her mother and she ran with the dipper back home. She was in such a hurry that she didn't notice a little dog under her feet, stumbled upon it and dropped the small dipper. Little dog squealed pitifully. The girl looked at the small dipper. She thought that she spilled it, but no, it stood straight on its bottom, and the water was still intact in it. Girl poured some water in her hand, and the little dog licked it all and got happy.
“Then girl again took her little dipper, which became silver from wooden. The girl brought the little dipper home and handed it to her mother. The mother said: ‘I am going to die anyway, you better drink yourself’, and gave the small dipper back to the girl. And at the same time, the silver dipper became the golden one. Then the girl could not hesitate anymore and just wanted to sip, when suddenly a stranger came in through the door and asked to drink. The girl swallowed her saliva and brought the small dipper to the stranger. And suddenly, on the small dipper, seven huge diamonds popped out, and a large stream of clean, fresh water, ran out of it. And the seven diamonds began to ascend higher and higher, and rose up to the sky and became the Big Dipper.” [i]
Leo Tolstoy wrote this story. Its beauty and moral message come from a man who believed sincerely in God yet struggled mightily with his faith. He felt called to give away his money, to the horror of his wife (and many children). I wonder if he prayed to be allowed to give it all away? I bet she prayed that her husband came to his senses.
Many times, we wonder why our prayers were not answered or if they will someday be answered? Do we underestimate the gifts that God wants for us? Do we hold back our knocking? Are we constraining God? Are we hung up on the things of “the flesh”? Understandably, many of these things “of flesh” are vitally significant or precious to us and God wants us to ask when we are in need. Most importantly, do we ask fervently, full of conviction that God will answer us with the most generous bounty, yet accepting that that which was on our lips is not necessarily what we will receive? A more profound friendship with God always results.
Action
God most certainly wants us to ask for our heart promptings. Do we even know when our heart desires stars? God welcomes us to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with good gifts. We knock to become more fully human, created in the image and likeness of God, sharing in the freedom given us in Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection.
As for Tolstoy? In a court-arranged agreement, his wife received Copywrite ownership of some of his works, thus the right to spend those monies. Perhaps neither of them was totally content, but the prayers they probably prayed were answered. Ponder what prayer of yours might have been answered in a way that you did not want. What graces did you receive?
https://earthsky.org/todays-image/big-dipper-over-chile-photo
[i] The Big Dipper by Lev Tolstoy, (A legend, from the English magazine "Thick Herald of Peace".) https://archive.org/stream/BigDipper_LevTolstoy/Big%20Dipper%2C%20The%20-%20Lev%20Tolstoy_djvu.txt
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