Reading 1
Mal 3:13-20b
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 the one who serves God,
and the one 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.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (Ps 40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Gospel
Lk 11:5-13
Jesus said to his disciples:
"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?"
Meditation: Luke 11:5-13
How much more will the Father in heaven give … “(Luke 11:13)
If you have any doubts about “love at first sight,” just ask some parents about the first time they laid eyes on their children. Holding one’s newborn for the first time is an overwhelming experience. A long waiting period is over, and a new love blossoms.
If this is how new parents feel about their children, imagine how your heavenly Father feels about you! He loved you before you were born. From the moment he called you into being, he rejoiced, both in your gifts and talents and in the prospect of having you by his side forever. Even when he saw you in sin, his love stayed firm—to the point of offering up his only Son to redeem you. Age after age, year after year, your Father has held nothing back from you!
Now it’s one thing to hear these truths in church or to read them in a devotional magazine. But we still have to deal with everyday life, when the lies of the devil and the lures of the world will manage to sow doubts in our minds. They tell us that God is some kind of heavenly policeman or that he is indifferent and uninvolved in our lives. They tell us that we are too sinful or too weak for God to love us, or they try to distract us by feeding us with self-centered ideas.
So how do we bridge the gap between what we hear at Mass and what we hear in the world? We can take the truths of Scripture with us into our daily lives. Every time you catch yourself thinking that you are all alone in the world, every time you catch yourself thinking that God doesn’t care, make today’s Gospel reading your own: How much more will my heavenly Father give me the Holy Spirit! Keep telling yourself: If I ask, I will receive; if I seek, I will find; if I knock, the door will be opened!
The devil wants to convince you that God is not good. The world wants to tell you that God doesn’t care. Well, stand up to these lies. Let God’s word silence them. You have a loving Father, and he wants to give you every good gift!
“Father, I want to get to know you better. Open my eyes to your goodness and love!”
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