Blessed are They who Hope in the Lord
Today's Mass Readings
Today’s beautiful first reading strikes a contrast between those who defy the Lord and those who fear the Lord, trusting in his name. Those who defy the Lord ask indignantly why they should be repentant when evildoers profit. Those who fear the Lord, meanwhile, have their names recorded and receive God’s compassion: “But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays” (Mal 3:20b). We see here that ultimately God takes care of those who respect him and do his will; this is true even if evildoers seem to profit in their defiance of the Lord on earth. The gospel reading further reflects this theme of God taking care of those who fear him. Jesus notes that persistence can get results. Those of us with children probably know this from experience; sometimes we give in to our children out of exasperation from their persistence. Likewise, we might also remember this from our own childhood experience. If we begged hard enough and long enough, we might get our way. Regardless, we see here reflected the children’s (or, in Jesus’ first example, the neighbor’s) absolute trust that their parents exist and are capable of giving them what they desire. This acknowledgement of the authority and compassion of parents is what Malachi names “the fear of the Lord.” Those who fear the Lord recognize his generosity in giving, his power in providing us with what we need. And so Jesus notes, God knows how to give good gifts to us; those who ask, receive.
In our daily lives, we may not always feel like this is true. We’ve all probably experienced what seemed to be an “unanswered prayer.” But if we can approach God as though he is our neighbor from whom we need three loaves of bread, or our father from whom we want a fish, then we express this confidence in God’s compassion, God’s goodness. In fearing the Lord we then find ourselves drawn to and asking for that which we most truly need – eternal life. Let us pray that we may be worthy of having our names written in the Lord’s record book, being healed by his compassion. Let us pray that God continually give us that grace we need to grow closer to him and closer to our end of eternal rest in him.