First reading Acts 18:23-28
Apollos demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ
Paul came down to Antioch, where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers.
An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual earnestness and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had only experienced the baptism of John. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, they took an interest in him and gave him further instruction about the Way.
When Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived there he was able by God’s grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public and demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Responsorial Psalm 46(47):2-3,8-10
R: God is king of all the earth
All you peoples, clap your hands;
shout to God with cries of gladness.
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For God’s are the guardians of the earth;
he is supreme.
Gospel John 16:23-28
The Father loves you for loving me and believing that I came from God
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name.
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.
Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete.
I have been telling you all this in metaphors,
the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in metaphors;
but tell you about the Father in plain words.
When that day comes you will ask in my name;
and I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you,
because the Father himself loves you for loving me
and believing that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world
and now I leave the world to go to the Father.’
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Asking and receiving
“Ask, and it will be given to you… Is there anyone among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread?… If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.” (Mt 7:7-11) Jesus insists that we need to ask the Father, but at the same time, He tells us to trust that He knows what is best for us.
Sometimes, we ask God our Father for blessings: good health, no conflicts, a good job, etc. We often ask Him not for us to suffer. But isn’t suffering part of being human, and isn’t it helping us grow as mature people? We need to be clear that God does not send us suffering but does not spare us from difficulties or challenges. This is because, most of the time, the experience of hardship makes us grow as human beings. Let us be assured that God our Father promises He will be with us, as He was with Jesus in His Passion.
