Daily Reflections - February 21,2013

THEOLOGICAL PASSIVES

 

The words we read in today’s Gospel come after the time Jesus taught the disciples at length about prayer and about dependence on God. Jesus, in the process, revealed to the disciples that as we approach God, the most evocative image we must have about Him is not His powerfulness, but His being Creator and Father. Jesus revealed that as Father, God is “Abba,” a Father who is personally concerned about us. This strand of teaching continues to echo in our Gospel reading today as we hear Jesus say, “If you, then, who are evil, 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?”

There is, however, another thing to note in our Gospel passage. The familiar opening lines, “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you,” are passive constructions. The ones addressed, that is us, are receivers of the action, but the doer is not mentioned explicitly. Only implicitly do we infer that the doer could be no one else but God. In a simpler way, the expression could have been: “Ask, and it will be given to you by God; search, and you will find God; knock and the door will be opened to you by God.”

The phrasing of Jesus’ teaching implies God as the most important doer, and yet it avoids using the name of God. Hence, “theological passives.” With this style of language, we are made to understand that, in all our prayers, God is there — unseen, yet listening to us, and acting according to what He knows is best for us.

We do not have to see His ways, and feel Him always. We simply need to be open and trusting. His name “YHWH” must be enough: “I Am He Who Is,” “I Am Who I Am,” “I Am Who Am.” And to this, we say, “Amen!” Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: How comfortable, trusting and at home are you with God as the “Unseen Father”? What are your most cherished experiences of His goodness? Are you a doer in faith, or are you one who waits in faith?

 

Increase my faith, Lord, not only as I wait, but as I follow You in moments of darkness.