The Good Gift

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives;and the one who seeks, finds;and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." - Luke 11: 9-10

The above quoted Scripture verse is an excerpt from today's Gospel reading at Mass.  It is one of the most known passages even to non-Christians.  It is a verse full of promise of hope in God's providence.  I often volley that promise back to God when faced with temporal needs that are beyond my ability to augment.  My complete mastery at persistent asking, I'm sure, tests our friendship.  I am so ever thankful that He is not the kind to give a snake when asked for a fish. 

The full text (Luke 11: 5-13)  is quite striking in it's brutal frankness, "If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"   For many years, I have glossed over the whole giving the Holy Spirit to those who ask.  I don't remember ever asking for the Holy Spirit because I need the eggs and the fish more.  What a sad testament that was to my infantile faith.  But with each re-reading of this passage my eyes began to actually see that the good gift is the Holy Spirit.  Unlike fish and eggs, the Holy Spirit is imperishable.  How can I not ask for that!  

There are many different prayers to the Holy Spirit but my most favorite is the Prayer For The Gifts of The Holy Spirit by St. Alphonsus Liguori. I remember posting it many years ago when my oldest was preparing for Confirmation. To save you the search through my 2014 entries, I am re-posting it here.  I hope this prayer blesses your life the way it continues to bless mine.

Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

St. Alphonsus Liguori

Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler, I adore You as my true God, with God the Father and God the Son. 
I adore You and unite myself to the adoration You receive from the angels and saints. I give You my heart and I offer my ardent thanksgiving for all the grace which You never cease to bestow on me. 

O Giver of all supernatural gifts, who filled the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with such immense favors, I beg You to visit me with Your grace and Your love and to grant me the gift of holy fear, so that it may act on me as a check to prevent me from falling back into my past sins, for which I beg pardon.  Grant me the gift of piety, so that I may serve You for the future with increased fervor, follow with more promptness Your holy inspirations,and observe your divine precepts with greater fidelity. 

Grant me the gift of knowledge, so that I may know the things of God and, 
enlightened by Your holy teaching, may walk, without deviation, in the path of eternal salvation. 
Grant me the gift of fortitude, so that I may overcome courageously all the assaults of the devil, and all the dangers of this world which threaten the salvation of my soul. Grant me the gift of counsel, 
so that I may choose what is more conducive to my spiritual advancement and may discover the wiles and snares of the tempter. Grant me the gift of understanding, so that I may apprehend the divine mysteries and by contemplation of heavenly things detach my thoughts and affections from the vain things of this miserable world. 

Grant me the gift of wisdom, so that I may rightly direct all my actions, referring them to God as my last end; so that, having loved Him and served Him in this life, I may have the happiness of possessing Him eternally in the next. Amen.