Homily: Janaury 6,2025, Monday afer Epiphany (Whatever you ask)

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 "We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him."

At one point in my life, I was enjoying listening to prosperity gospel preachers like Joel Osteen. What they preached was not theologically profound nor sound, but their messages were so uplifting and impactful. They made having faith in God look very attractive and materially rewarding.

“Believe in Jesus and you will be saved, you will be rich, you will be successful, you will be powerful! Pray for anything and God will give you everything!”

Such wonderful promises sure sound good. But is it the truth of our faith?

As I matured in life and in faith, I realized that such messages lack authenticity and do not at all align with Jesus’ teachings. Looking simply at the way Jesus Himself lived while on earth would show up the contradictions and reveal the lies.

So, does God give us whatever we ask? The condition stated in today’s reading is that if we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him, we will receive whatever we ask.

Scripture cannot be wrong, but we cannot read scripture out of context. So, if we read on to understand the context of today’s first reading, we understand further that “Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit whom he gave us.”

That means, yes, God gives us whatever we ask, if we keep His commandments. To keep His commandments is to remain in Him, and that means to be aligned to His will. If we are fully aligned with God, we will never ask for anything that would lead us away from Him or go against His will.

Our heavenly Father knows and wills what is the best for us – the salvation of our souls. To be saved is to be able to spend eternity with God. That is His ultimate desire: for us to share His love, joy, and peace forever and ever.

Thus, everything that God allows in our lives — whether it comes in the form of a blessing or a challenge — is permitted with the final goal to bring us to heaven. Understanding this, we will only ask for whatever leads us to this same goal, whatever brings us closer to God, even if it means asking for suffering or poverty. Many saints are known to ask for such.

Would God then deny whatever we ask?

Keep His commandments, do what pleases Him, and whatever you ask, you will receive. Amen.


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