PRESENCE AND PRESENTS
          Reflecting on the gospel this weekend, if you were given the
opportunity to ask God for only one thing, what would it be? Would it give you lasting joy? As Matthew says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also” (6: 21).
          Aside from the value of persistence and perseverance that this weekend’s Gospel
proposes, it is also exhorting us to reflect on the manner of our “asking” from God. Do the things that we ask for ultimately give glory to God, or are they just for our own benefit?
It is striking that at the end of the Gospel, we heard Jesus saying, “how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”  How many times have you asked for the Holy Spirit? At times, one is fixated with the “presents” – with things, with stuff — and, we forget to ask for the gift of presence or the deeper awareness of the Holy Spirit, of God in our lives.  The Father wants to give us his Presence, not just his presents. After all, if we have the Holy Spirit, what else do we need? If we have the Holy Spirit, we would also have the wisdom to only ask for those things that truly glorify God in the end. 
– Fr. Cary