Seventeenth Sunday – Ordinary Times Cycle C
Reflecting on Luke 11:1-13
There is an elephant in the room, and maybe we should acknowledge it and bring it out into the light. Here it is: we have asked and not received, sought and not found, knocked and heard the door locking from the inside. Haven’t we? And so today we hear Jesus commanding us to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking, and we find hope again. We believe again. We ask again.
We try to bargain with God like Abraham did. But Jesus has promised us that God wants to give us more than we even know how to ask for. And sometimes it turns out that we were actually asking for a stone, and God gave us fish instead.
Suffering. It’s probably the greatest barrier for us in our search for God. Where was God when my dad died last year? We prayed so hard for my sister to be cured, but God didn’t listen. God could have saved all those kids from that car accident, but just didn’t.
The search for meaning in our suffering is the elephant in the room. But the Holy Spirit is in the room too, the great and lasting Comforter whom Jesus promises is the reward for all who pray. Keep praying, and watch the Holy Spirit work. Keep seeking, and find the Holy Spirit waiting for you in those dark corners.
I will keep knocking until the day the Holy Spirit opens the door to eternity, where every tear will be undone and Jesus, my all-loving Savior, returns to me a hundredfold all the loves I thought I’d lost.
Sharing God’s Word at Home
Do you feel the Holy Spirit helping you to overcome disappointment and grief?
What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.
I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).