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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider How much more will your heavenly Father give good things

How much more will your heavenly Father give good things

Published Mar 10, 2022 12:05 am

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Reflections today

Jesus teaches His disciples, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven” (Mt 23:9). Common sense tells us that Jesus is not forbidding children to use the word “father.” What He means to say is that only God has the perfection of the father. Only God is good (Mk 10:18), and earthly fathers are “wicked” in comparison with Him, however good and loving they may be. Our Father in heaven loves to answer our prayers and to give us that which we seek. Just as it is the father’s nature to provide for His children, so the “good” Father gives good things to His children when we sincerely ask, seek, and knock. This continuous action of asking, seeking, and knocking does not imply that God is to be moved to action; it is rather to build up our faith, a key ingredient to answered prayer. It also invites us to seek God’s will in our prayers, as Jesus did. James says that we do not have because we do not ask, or if we do ask, it is with wrong motives (4:2-3). Jesus is not saying that we only have to want something, and then ask our Father in heaven, and it will be done. There are times when that is true, but Jesus also teaches about motives, about faith, about the will of God, and about praying in His name.

Gospel • MATTHEW 7:7-12

Jesus said to His disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; 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. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”

SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.

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