" For the one who asks receives,

and the one who searches finds,

and to him who knocks the door will be opened."

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Genesis 18:20-32

 Then Yahweh said,

“How great is the cry for justice against Sodom and Gomorrah! And how grievous is their sin!  I am going down to see if they have done all that they are charged with in the outcry that has reached me. If it is not so, I will know.”

 The men with him turned away and went towards Sodom, but Yahweh remained standing before Abraham.  Abraham went forward and said, “Will you really let the just perish with the wicked?  Perhaps there are fifty good people in the town. Are you really going to let them perish?

Would you not spare the place for the sake of these fifty righteous people?  It would not be at all like you to do such a thing and you can’t let the good perish with the wicked, nor treat the good and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the judge of all the earth be just?”  Yahweh said, “If I find fifty good peo­ple in Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

 

 Abraham spoke up again, “I know that I am very bold to speak like this to my Lord, I who am only dust and ashes!  But perhaps the number of the good is five less than fifty. Will you destroy the town because of five?” Yahweh replied, “I will not destroy the town if I find forty-five good people there.”

Again Abraham said to him, “Perhaps there will be only forty.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.”  Abraham went on, saying, “May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak. Maybe only thirty good people will be found in the town.” Yahweh answered, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty there.”  Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to my Lord, what if only twenty can be found?” He said, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy the place.”

 ut Abraham insisted, “May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found?” And Yahweh answered, “For the sake of ten good people, I will not destroy Sodom.”

 

Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8

Lord on the day I called for help, you answered me.

 

   ＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Colossians 2:12-14

 

 I refer to baptism. On receiving it you were buried with Christ; and you also rose with him for having believed in the power of God who raised him from the dead.

 You were dead. You were in sin and uncircumcised at the same time. But God gave you life with Christ. He forgave all our sins.   He can­celed the record of our debts, those regulations which accused us. He did away with all that and nailed it to the cross.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊ 

Luke 11:1-13

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”   And Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this:

Father, hallowed be your name, may your kingdom come, give us each day the kind of bread we need, and forgive us our sins, for we also for­give all who do us wrong, and do not bring us to the test.”

 Jesus said to them, “Sup­pose one of you has a friend and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says: ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,   for a friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived and I have nothing to offer him.’   Maybe your friend will answer from inside: ‘Don’t bother me now; the door is locked and my children and I are in bed, so I can’t get up and give you anything.’   

But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need.

 And so I say to you, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.

If your child asks for a fish, will you give a snake instead?   And if your child asks for an egg, will you give a scorpion?   Even you evil people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more then will the Father in heaven give holy spirit to those who ask him!”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Intercessory Prayer

Read:

Abraham intercedes before Yahweh for Sodom and Gomorrah on account of the good souls there. God forgave our sins thanks to the intercession of Christ. Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray.

Reflect:

The power of intercessory prayer to trump justice in favor of mercy! The cry of justice against Sodom and Gomorrah had reached the throne of God. However, Abraham takes it upon himself to plead for mercy on the twin cities, on account of some good souls there.

He resorts to bargaining, succeeding all the way to get God to spare the cities if there were at least ten good souls there. If Abraham bargained with God, Christ’s bargain beats every other: he does so on behalf of us, offering up himself in our place.

 

Can God ever refuse such an intercession? Jesus assures the disciples of the power of intercession, when he narrates the parable of a man who pleads for food for his friend who came visiting. Whatever we ask in prayer, especially when it is on behalf of another, is granted: perhaps not exactly as we desire, but far better than we can ever imagine.

Pray: Pray interceding for the needs of those around you.

Act: Be the answere to prayer. Identify the need of a neighbor and respond to the same.