Our Lord and Savior wishes us to attain the joy of the heavenly
kingdom, and so he taught us to pray for it, promising to give it to
us if we did so. “Ask, he said, and you will receive, seek and
you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.”
We should consider most seriously and attentively what these words
of the Lord may mean for us, for they warn that not the idle and
feckless but those who ask, seek, and knock will receive, find, and
have the door opened to them.
We must therefore ask for entry into the kingdom by prayer, seek it by upright living, and knock at its door by perseverance.
Merely to ask verbally is not enough; we must also diligently seek
to discover how to live so as to be worthy of obtaining what we ask
for. We know this from our Savior's words: Not everyone who says to
me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only those who do the will of my heavenly Father.
There is a need, then, for constant and unflagging prayer.
Let us fall upon our knees with tears before our God and Maker; and
that we may deserve a hearing, let us consider carefully how he who
made us wishes us to live, and what he has commanded us to do.
Let us seek the Lord and his strength; let us constantly seek his
face.
And in order to become worthy of finding him and gazing upon him,
“let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and
spirit,” for only the chaste of body can be raised up to
heaven on the day of resurrection; only the pure of heart can
contemplate the glory of the divine Majesty.
If we would know what the Lord wishes us to ask for, let us listen
to the gospel text: “Seek first the kingdom of God and its
justice, and all these other things will be given you as
well.”
To seek the kingdom of God and its justice is to long for the graces
of our heavenly homeland, and to give constant thought to the kind
of upright living that will deserve to obtain them; for should we
chance to stray from the path that leads there we shall never be
able to reach our goal.
To ask God for the justice of his kingdom is to ask principally for
faith, hope, and love.
These virtues above all we should strive to obtain, for scripture
says: “the upright live by
faith; mercy surrounds those who hope in the Lord; and to love is to
fulfill the law, for the whole law is summed up in one word:
you shall love your neighbor as
yourself. ”
And so the Lord graciously promises that the “Father will give
the good Spirit to those who ask him,” in order to show that
those who of themselves are evil can become good by receiving the
grace of the Spirit.
He promises the good Spirit will be given by the Father because
whether it is faith, hope, or any other virtue we desire to obtain,
we shall do so only through the grace of the Holy Spirit.
As we do our best, then, to follow in our Lord’s footsteps, let us
ask God the Father for the grace of his Spirit to lead us along the
path of that true faith which works through love.
And that we may deserve to obtain our desire, let us strive to live
in a way that will make us not unworthy of so great a Father; let us
preserve inviolate in body and soul the sacramental rebirth of our
baptism which made us children of God.
Then, if we keep the almighty Father’s commandments, he will
certainly reward us with the eternal blessing which from the
beginning he prepared as our heritage through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with the Holy Spirit lives and reigns with him, God for ever and
ever. Amen.
Sermon 101, 1-3.11: PL 38, 605-607.610
Bede (c.673-735), who received the title of
Venerable less than a century after his death, was placed at the
age of seven in the monastery of Wearmouth, then ruled by Saint
Benet Biscop. At the age of 30 he was ordained priest.
His whole life was devoted to the study of scripture, to teaching,
writing, and the prayer of the Divine Office. He was famous for
his learning, although he never went beyond the bounds of his
native Northumbria.
Bede is best known for his historical works, which earned him the
title “Father of English History.” His Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum is a primary source for early English history, especially
valuable because of the care he took to give his authorities, and
to separate historical fact from hearsay and tradition.
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Journey with the Fathers
Commentaries on the Sunday Gospels
- Year C, pp. 102-103.
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