HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: Knock, Knock
BY: Deacon Bill Frere
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 6 2022
Gospel – Luke 11:5-13
There’s a story about a 10-year-old boy who asked his parents for a TV for his bedroom. I say ‘ask’ but it was really ‘BEG’! He begged and pleaded; over and over he insisted his parents to give him what he wanted! He was, at times, impatient and rather demanding. Finally his parents responded to his request. But they didn’t outright give him the TV!! Instead they gave him a number of opportunities to earn money so he could buy the TV himself. So he save his earnings and birthday gifts, did extra chores, and was finally able to go to the store and buy his TV with all his hard-earned money.
I don’t think we are much different. At some point we have all nagged our parents for something we absolutely positively ‘needed’! And sometimes they probably threw in the towel and gave up! I wonder how often we treat God the same way. I guess we can at least give the little boy credit for his persistence. But I wonder how persistent we are in prayer with God.
Most of the time when we read today’s Gospel, we place ourselves in the role of the home-owner awakened in the middle of the night. The idea was that God was calling – do we answer? But today let’s stand on the other side of the door. We are the friend in need! How persistent are we when we are in the midst of a crisis? Do we settle for silence from the neighbor or do we continue to be tenacious, knocking until we get an answer.
Then how persistent are we in prayer, when we call on God? Do we pray only when there is a crisis, an accident or an illness or sudden loss? God reminds us that prayer is not just about persistence and perseverance. Prayer should be regular and constant! God is always on the other side of the door. Keep knocking! Day in, day out, keep knocking!! And like the little boy, our parent (God) may not always give us the answer we are hoping for. But He will always answer our prayer (knocking).