Commentary on the Gospel of
Intercessory Prayer
If the “friend” in the parable found it hard to get up and share a few pieces of bread at the middle of the night, imagine the sacrifice made by the one who had come seeking bread! He wasn’t asking for bread for himself: he was interceding on behalf of another who came to his house in the middle of the night, seeking shelter. “Ask and receive, seek and find, and knock and enter” that Jesus talks about today has great actualizing power when we ask, seek, and knock on behalf of the needy. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church observes, “Since Abraham, intercession - asking on behalf of another - has been characteristic of a heart attuned to God's mercy. In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints […] The intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries” (#2635-2636).
