THE CALL OF
RECONCILIATION ( ...page
4
)
THE CALL OF
RECONCILIATION ( ...page
4
)
October 8th 1998
Luke 11, 5-13
" And Jesus said to his disciples, «Suppose one of
you should go to a friend's house at midnight
and say `Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread'. A friend of mine who is
on a journey has just
come to my house, and I haven't got any food for him. 'And suppose your friend
should answer from inside, `Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my
children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything. 'Well, what
then? I tell you that even if he will not get up and give you the bread because
you are his friend, yet he will get up and give you everything you need because
you are not ashamed to keep asking.
«And so I tell you: ask , and you will receive, seek
and you will find; knock, and the door will
be opened to you. Because all those who ask will receive, and those who seek
will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks.
Would any of you who are parents give your son a
snake when he asks for fish? Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for
and egg? Bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How
much more, then , will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who
ask him!»
Meditation
The Gospel is written with words.
In the Gospel we do not look for ideas, but for words. It
is behind the words that the secrets are hidden. We have to start off by
gathering these words as if we were starting off gathering almonds or walnuts,
we need to open the fruit in order to find its secret.
It
is an open door through which you are invited to go in order to reach the table
of the Gospel. There is a piece of bread there to feed you.
We are going to follow the
track of this Gospel. You'll listen to the words and you'll try to find out
which are the words that reach you this morning. What are the news that they
convey to me, in my own life. Not in my principles, my ideas in general, but
concretely in the actions of my daily life.
What hope is conveyed by words? We are talking about a
friend. Today the hero of the story is someone who has a friend. This text is a
story.
Through this
story, Jesus wants us to understand something about his friend. If it is a
friend, it means that they know each other. He arrives in the middle of the
night, he is not afraid of him, he knows his voice, they are in touch.
The friend comes in the middle of
the night. He has just knocked. He has just disturbed everybody.
The night is for sleeping, and at night the friend comes to disturb us.
Here I will give you a small detail to help you understand
this text, because the houses in Palestine at the time of Jesus were not as
African or European houses.
In Palestinian houses there was only one room. In one part
of it the muttons and goats were kept, next to it there was room for sleeping
and the attic where the provisions were kept.
The house was made in such a way that first there was the door, then the parents
sleeping quarter near the door, then the children just before the attic.
Therefore all the children had to be woken up in order to
reach the provisions where the bread was kept. One can understand why the friend
answers in such a way. Everybody had to be woken up. Everything has been
disturbed.
Luke wants us to understand that the event disturbs everything.
We are going to stop here and think about this event,
because who is this friend that arrives? He is really an event that has happened.
What is happening in my life? What is happening to me?
Events can sometimes be very difficult and they can hurt. Not only because they
disturb my plans but because they can generate death.
If we are meeting here today, it is because very many
African countries have experienced death. It happened to us.
The first thing that I would ask you to do, is to abandon the thought that these
events might have been a punishment.
God is not a murderer. God cannot rejoice in the death of someone.
We have lived through these events, that happened to us when we did not expect
them and which hurt us.
An event that happens is always also a question.
What does this event want to say to me? The message is not
necessarily a reproach. But it is always a call to convert one's heart.
The friend who has just woken me up in the middle of the night disturbs me, but
he also conveys the request of disturbing my heart.
I say “no”, and he asks me to say “yes”.
The friend will say “yes” simply because he wants to be left in peace!
The peace that we want to welcome here, is a loving, living peace. A flowering
peace. A peace that invents the future. A peace bearing ripe fruits. This kind
of peace cannot be bought
Jesus says: ask and you'll be given. Seek and you'll find. Knock and doors will
be opened.
He who asks, it means that he needs it, that it is necessary for him, that it is
urgent for him. The newly born cries when hungry, because he cannot speak.
And you? What are you asking for, what are you crying for? What are the
aspirations of your heart?
Peace has to be asked for.
Peace is like a hunger.
There are many societies in the world that don't want peace. It does not suit
them, because it is incompatible with their business interests...
What kind of peace do you want?
What is your heart asking when it is asking for peace?
Seek and you'll find!
When one has lost a paper, one's glasses, one looks everywhere... What are you
looking for here? What is your heart seeking?
Dare to knock at the door!
Why do you want to knock at the door?
Knock and someone will open! It also means: be confident!
If you seek, if you knock: be confident! don't say that you'll never do.
Ask and you'll receive. Knock and someone will open. Seek and you'll find.
Luke expresses this confidence through two parables.
When your son asks you for fish, would you give him a
serpent? When he asks for an egg, would you give him a scorpion?
When a child trusts you, then how much more can you trust Our Father in heaven,
in order to live, love, be a woman.
Trust!
We will meditate in silence. We'll think about the words
that speak to us.
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