Today at Holy Mass hear from the Gospel of St Luke….Jesus says something we have all heard before…..The question is….Do we take for granted the invitation?…Because its real and sincere…..“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”….Have you ever “knocked on that door?…And if you did…What did you expect to “get”?
“Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son”
While each and every person ever created is unique and unrepeatable…There are aspects of the human condition that join us together…..That unite us….One of those foundational elements of mankind is the fact that we were all created by the same God…However, we can resist that God…Deny God exists all we want…But that does not change the reality that we all came from the “same place”….With that said….God, who loves us wants us to return to him..... However, we have been given free will, which means we are free to not accept his invitation….While we are free to choose not to return God’s love….When we choose that path…Something inside of us breaks…In a sense its not natural to not serve and love God…We were all born for that very reason - no matter who we are or what we have done…And when that natural desire is not fulfilled we try to “replace” that desire for God with other “things”…All of which leave us unsatisfied and empty in the end…..This is why when a person comes to the “end of themself”…Has tried “everything”…Its at that time many turn to God…..And at the end of that search they find peace…..“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?”
The road to God for some is a rough one….But it does not have to be that way….We have to come to understand that God “has our back”…God always wants what is best for us!…But these are just words…People need to figure this out for themself…This is why mankind “tries” so many substitutes to fill the “God-hole” in its heart….One of my favorite stories of a person who chased after the things of the world only in the end to find God is a personal friend of mine’s story. His name is John Pridmore. I know John through the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal…….John was born in London and when he was young his parents divorced. Their separation hurt him so bad he began to act out and his bad behavior landed him in jail. When he got out of jail he got involved with organized crime in the East-end of London. One day he was working as a door man in a bar and he punched a man so hard that he thought he killed him. That night he drove home and took a deep look at himself….And said the first prayer he ever said in his life…And God answered him!…And that began a new chapter in the life of John Pridmore…John now speaks to people all over the world…He is a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ and a devout Catholic….The world gave up on John Pridmore…But God did not!…Like St Paul who was once a murderer…God had something for John Pridmore to do
”But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites”
Back to our gospel today, Jesus tells us something we take for granted…He tells us that no one is beyond his love…That all we have to do is “knock”….So why do we not do it?…Only you can answer that question…But I will tell you this…While we resist the God who created us…God will continue to do the “knocking”…God will continue to “knock” on the “doors of our hearts”…And like the father in the story of the Prodigal son…He waits for us…”This son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found……..If only we simply “knock on that door”….We are wasting time
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