asking right
"I give you My assurance, whatever you ask the Father, He will give you in My name." —John 16:23
Jesus has promised: "Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full" (Jn 16:24). We receive full, complete joy (Jn 15:11) when we ask for and receive the Holy Spirit, for joy is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). Therefore, we must ask for the Holy Spirit. Jesus has promised: "If you, with all your sins, know how to give your children good things, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Lk 11:13).
However, we must ask for the Holy Spirit in the right way — with an attitude of unselfishness, humility, and docility. The author of the book of James has taught us: "You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly, with a view to squandering what you receive on your pleasures" (Jas 4:3). Moreover, we must ask for the Spirit "in faith, never doubting, for the doubter is like the surf tossed and driven by the wind. A man of this sort, devious and erratic in all that he does, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord" (Jas 1:6-8).
Today is the second day of the Pentecost novena. We are praying for nine days that the Holy Spirit will give us a new Pentecost. In these nine days, we must die to ourselves and grow in faith so we can ask for the coming of the Holy Spirit as at the first Christian Pentecost. Ask right. Come, Holy Spirit!
Prayer: Lord, teach me to pray in this novena (see Lk 11:1).
Promise: "When he arrived, he greatly strengthened those who through God's favor had become believers." —Acts 18:27
Praise: St. Isidore, a farmer, began each day with morning Mass. He and his wife are both canonized saints.
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, October 9, 1998
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 17, 1998