26 February, Thursday — What if I asked for a stone?

Thursday of the 1^st Week of Lent

Est 4:17
Mt 7:7-12

“Is there a man among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread?”

As I reflected on the Gospel today, I imagined it being read to a cheeky child who, after being read to, asks, “Then what if I asked for a stone?” If you were in that situation, how would you answer the child?

Initially, I thought I would try to explain about the stone not being good for him; that it would not fill him up instead of a piece of bread. But what if the child insists that he would really prefer the stone? Or what if the child says that he doesn’t see anything wrong with a stone? In fact, stones can be useful. After all, there was a period in history, literally referred to as the ‘stone age’, where the wide use of stone as tools took place. The more I played this conversation in my mind, the more I realized that I could have been that child at different times of my life.

I’m pretty sure that most of us have asked God for stones many times. Those stones may have glittered like diamonds, but they were still stones. At that point, it may have been difficult for God to explain to us why he would not give us a stone, even if we asked for it. We may even retort (to God) that he told us to “just ask and he will give it to us”. Is this starting to sound familiar? Maybe some of us have thrown tantrums because we thought that God was not keeping his part of the promise, when he didn’t give us what we asked for, even though we insisted that he keep his part of the ‘promise.’

Brothers and sisters, God will not budge. Because he does not want us to settle for a stone. We may find the stones attractive, fascinating, or even, financially valuable. God sees their value for what they are. They are just stones. Consuming them will not give us life.

And in God’s hierarchy of value, bread is more valuable than a stone. In the world’s economy, we could probably buy tonnes of bread with some of the precious stones we have. So, it’s obvious that God is not referring to an earthly bread. He is referring to Jesus Christ, the bread of life.

If we ask for Jesus, we will definitely receive Jesus. This bread of life is more precious than any of the stones we could ever ask for.

I’m still not sure how I would explain this to a child; but when a child does ask this of me, I will just turn to the Holy Spirit to take over.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Stephanie Villa)

Prayer: Dearest Lord, please give me the bread of life. Thanksgiving: Thank you, Lord, for giving me nourishment and for making sure I can always ask for You.