Thursday, March 9, 2017
1st Week of Lent
First Reading: Est C:12, 14-16,23-25Gospel Reading: Mt 7:7-12
Jesus said to his disciples, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; and the door will be opened to him who knocks. Would any of you give a stone to your son when he asks for bread? Or give him a snake, when he asks for a fish? As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”So, do to others whatever you would that others do to you: there you have the Law and the Prophets.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life Experience)
After fasting for 40 days in the desert, a group of monks prayed hard for food. Suddenly the answer came. They saw a boiled egg descending slowly from the sky. But they were too hungry to share it among themselves. So they agreed that the monk who could give the appropriate Gospel quote will get the egg. One said, “Ask and you shall receive”. But before he managed to put the egg into his mouth another monk grabbed it and said, “Knock and it shall be opened unto you”. He then struck the egg against his forehead but before he could put it into his mouth another monk grabbed it and said, “You are the salt of the earth.” He then put salt on the egg but before he could take a bite of it another monk grabbed it from him and said, “Enter, rejoice and come in”. They helplessly watched him eat the egg not realizing that the winning quote was not a Gospel verse but a title of a song. They were all victims of fraud.
God answers prayers but extrinsic and intrinsic fraud can snatch away from us the benefits of God’s positive response. An example of extrinsic fraud is one committed by employers. When they don’t pay just salaries to their workers they clog God’s channel of distribution of grace to the workers. If you are such victim cry out to God that he may hear you (Exodus 22:23). This is not to suggest that you do nothing else but pray. You can initiate active-non-violent actions such as asking the help of the Department of Labor.
An example of intrinsic fraud is one committed by those who lure the poor to some gainful yet immoral deals. If you succumb to such fraud and engage in immoral transactions, you are on your own. By failing to denounce evil, it is you yourself who is clogging God’s channel of distribution of divine grace.
When it appears to you that God is not responsive, do not jump into conclusion that God is irresponsible. Perhaps you are just a victim of fraud or you might be the author of it. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM.
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