Back in the day, it was dangerous to take the kids with me when I would go shopping, because when they would ask me to buy this and that, I would usually give in. Sometimes, I would say no. But more often than not, I would make the purchase. The items in question weren't bad. They were just things I was not otherwise planning to buy. But when asked, I did so.
My shopping outings have some parallels with prayer. There are some things that God will only give to us when we ask for them in prayer. Moreover, some things God will only give us when others ask for them on our behalf. God does so in order to deepen the relationship of love each of us has with him and also the relationship of love we have with each other.
The leper in today's Gospel reading does not hesitate to ask. Nor do the crowds who seek out Jesus. Nor should we hesitate. We should reach out with faith to Christ for the many gifts he is ready to give to us. Grace, we might say, favors the bold.
When we ask Christ for his gifts, we will always receive his blessing. What we receive might not be what we want exactly. But that is because Christ knows what is best for us and will give us what we need most in that particular moment in life. Sometimes what we receive is very different from what we desire. We might not understand for years how the response we got was a blessing in our lives. But Christ always responds to our prayers with blessings.
The best way to approach prayer is with the attitude that Christ himself modeled for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. He asked for the cup to be taken away from him but he ended his prayer by saying: "Not my will but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)
We should do the same. As we bring our hopes, fears, dreams, and desires before God, we should conclude our prayer with the words of Jesus. Not my will but yours be done. If we do so, we will be properly disposed to receive whatever blessing Christ chooses to give us in that moment.
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The readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, are:
Lv 13:1-2, 44-46
Ps 32:1-2, 5, 11
1 Cor 10:31—11:1
Mk 1:40-45
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: The Sea of Galilee By Zoltan Abraham (c) 2016.