A reading from the Book of Malachi
3:13-20b
You have defied me in word, says the LORD,
yet you ask, "What have we spoken against you?"
You have said, "It is vain to serve God,
and what do we profit by keeping his command,
And going about in penitential dress
in awe of the LORD of hosts?
Rather must we call the proud blessed;
for indeed evildoers prosper,
and even tempt God with impunity."
Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,
and the LORD listened attentively;
And a record book was written before him
of those who fear the LORD and trust in his name.
And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts,
my own special possession, on the day I take action.
And I will have compassion on them,
as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
Then you will again see the distinction
between the just and the wicked;
Between the one who serves God,
and the one who does not serve him.
For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,
when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,
And the day that is coming will set them on fire,
leaving them neither root nor branch,
says the LORD of hosts.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays.
From the Gospel according to Luke
11:5-13
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,'
and he says in reply from within,
'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.'
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
"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.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
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?"
We must often remember Christ's exhortation: “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” In particular, we need to remember it when we lose trust or the desire to pray. We must also always relearn how to pray. We often excuse ourselves from praying by claiming that we don’t know how to do it. If we truly don’t know how to pray, then it is even more necessary to learn. This is important for everyone, and it seems to be particularly important for young people, who often neglect the prayer they learned as children because it seems too childish, naive, or shallow to them. However, such a state of mind should serve as an indirect stimulus to deepen our prayer, to make it more reflective, more mature, and to seek support for it in the Word of God itself and in the Holy Spirit, who “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words,” as St. Paul writes (Romans 8:26).
Yes, dear brothers and sisters, there is an immense need for prayer, for the great and unceasing prayer of the Church; there is a need for fervent, humble, and persevering prayer. It is the first front in which good and evil face each other in our world. It paves the way for good and helps to overcome evil. Prayer obtains divine grace and mercy for the world. It elevates humanity to the dignity given to it by the Son of God, when, united with Him, they repeat: “Our Father.” (St. John Paul II, Angelus, 1980)