Gospel Reflection for The 9th day of October in the year of Our Lord, 2025
Luke 11, 5-13
5 And he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves,
6 Because a friend of mine is come off his journey to me, and I have not what to set before him. 7 And he from within should answer, and say: Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 Yet if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise, and give him as many as he needeth. 9 And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
11 And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?
Interestingly, I don’t think I ever heard a sermon preached on today’s Gospel reading that emphasized the last sentence. I’m not really sure I have heard a homily on the topic since I became Catholic about 20 years ago. Most often, it is simply quoted as. “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” And, while it is true that Jesus promised that God would answer all of our prayers and provide for all of our needs, that is not what is being referenced here.
In today’s Gospel, our Lord specifically promises us that if we persist in prayer, God will give us the Holy Spirit. This is of the utmost importance. When we are Baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit. In Confirmation, we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Traditional Catholic teaching has been that when we sin, the Holy Spirit begins to withdraw from us, and when we are in a state of mortal sin, the Holy Spirit leaves us entirely until we are reconciled with the Church.
We all sin. Only our Lord and His Blessed Mother were conceived free from original sin, and Saint John the Baptist was cleansed of original sin in the womb when the Blessed Mother visited his mother, Saint Elizabeth. These three were born having no concupiscence, or proclivity to sin. We are not so fortunate. We will continue to sin for as long as we live and we will continually have to ask forgiveness and seek reconciliation. That is the point of continuing to knock and continuing to ask. Our Heavenly Father will give us what we ask, but we must “persevere until the end.”
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2025 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BHFZ7X
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic
"We will continue to sin for as long as we live and we will continually have to ask forgiveness and seek reconciliation."
So do you think it's impossible for one to live in a state of Grace after confessing one's sins? Isn't it possible for God to put one in a state of Grace to avoid sin after confessing their sins? God says to turn from your sin, your wicked ways and put on the new man. Why after confessing your sins would you even consider going back and doing what you did before? Your sins are lessons to be learned of what not to do. You have ask God teach you how to avoid those sins and not just say I'll keeping doing them til I die and just keep asking for forgiveness. People fall yes, but the goal is to learn from your mistake and correct it til eventually you no longer are doing those things. Your are to turn your life around and advance towards being holy.