Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Right after Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray, he goes right into telling a story of a man knocking on the door of a friend’s house late in the evening looking for food. Initially, the friend denies him entrance and food. But Jesus goes on to say that if the man knocking is persistent, the friend will let him enter and feed him. Persistent! How persistent are we? This is the lesson today in our gospel, brothers and sisters.
We are kind of spoiled in that, in our lives, we have a lot of options and choices. For example, if there’s something that we don’t like, we can easily dismiss it, and do something else. This unfortunately has crept into our spiritual life. When we are given a challenge, a situation, or a cross to encounter and work through, but we don’t like it, we easily dismiss it. We dismiss it without processing it, without working through it, without learning from it, without being PERSISTENT. This is how we learn and grow, by being persistent. And it shows our dedication. It is a way for us to show our faith, our steadfastness.
St. Benedict in his Rule says that monasteries shouldn’t make easy entrance for candidates wishing to join the monastery. St. Benedict says to make them wait at the door for a few days. Persistence. What’s my faith like? Do I drop and run at the hint of a challenge? Or am I persistent, firm in my faith and dedication?
Reflection by Fr. Macario Martinez, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections