St. Firminus

Thursday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day
Saint Macarius : "How much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

Reading

Malachi 3,13-20.
You have defied me in word, says the LORD, yet you ask, "What have we spoken against you?" You have said, "It is vain to serve God, and what do we profit by keeping his command, And going about in penitential dress in awe of the LORD of hosts? Rather must we call the proud blessed; for indeed evildoers prosper, and even tempt God with impunity." Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened attentively; And a record book was written before him of those who fear the LORD and trust in his name. And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, my own special possession, on the day I take action. And I will have compassion on them, as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. Then you will again see the distinction between the just and the wicked; Between him who serves God, and him who does not serve him. For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, And the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays; And you will gambol like calves out of the stall


Ps 1,1-2.3.4.6.
Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers. Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy; God's law they study day and night. They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers. But not the wicked! They are like chaff driven by the wind. The LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.


Lk 11,5-13.
And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' 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. And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 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?"

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day

Saint Macarius (?- 405), monk in Egypt
Homily 16, Third Collection (SC 275, p.205)

"How much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

To get food for his body a beggar thinks it no trouble to knock at the door and ask for it. And if he doesn’t get it, he goes on further and, with even more persistence, asks for bread, clothing or shoes to ease his body. So long as he hasn’t received anything he will not go away, even if he is driven off. Now we who try to receive the real, heavenly bread to strengthen our souls, who want to put on heaven’s light-filled clothing and who long to be shod with the immaterial shoes of the Spirit to solace our immortal soul: how much more ought we to knock at God’s spiritual door, unwearyingly and resolutely, with faith and love, waiting always and, with perfect constancy, ask to be counted worthy of eternal life? Thus the Lord “told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary” (Lk 18,1) then added these words: how much more will our heavenly Father “secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night,” (v.7). And again, talking about the friend: “Even if he does not give to him for friendship’s sake, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence,” (Lk 11,8). And he adds further: “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you,” (v.9). And he continues: “If you 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?” (v.13). This is why the Lord exhorts us to ask at all times, unwearyingly and persistently, always seeking and knocking. For he has promised to give to those who ask, seek and knock, not to those who do not ask. It is in being prayed, implored, loved that he desires to give us eternal life.