Lenten reflection, day 8

Scripture readings for today: Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25; Psalm 138; Matthew 7:7-12

Today’s Gospel about persistence in prayer—to ask, seek, and knock—is not so much about wearing God down and getting Him to come around to our way of seeing and doing things but to get us to come around to His way of seeing and doing things.

We’ve had the experience of praying about something and not getting it or heard others speak about it. So why keep asking? We’re called to change our focus and make prayer not so much about us but about God: to make the Lord the center of all we are and do.

So when we go to pray, why don’t we try this on for size? Let’s pray not so much to get what we want but what God wants. That moves us beyond ourselves, beyond our concerns and cares, which are valid and have a time and place but are only a part of that grand, cosmic design that the Lord very much wants to bring to completion.

It all comes down to what we probably say every day: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” Let’s hope that’s what we want more than anything else. So we keep on asking, seeking, knocking, and praying for it.

Father Mark Wise, C.Ss.R.
Philadelphia

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