Thursday of week 27 in Ordinary Time

Today’s Gospel reading reminds me of an image of God my friend Andrew calls the Vending Machine God. The image that if we pray enough, do enough good works, repent enough God will not only let us into heaven but he will give us what we ask for.
We will get what we want or at least what we need from God. I will not deny the generosity of God or his action and gifts to us. And, I understand how we can fall into this image especially when we read language in scripture like “ask and it will be given.” I certainly find myself at times praying with this image of God. But today, my attention was drawn to the end of the Gospel reading where it says “how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” I hear Jesus trying to help us see that God is always with us in great abundance. The Father is giving us Presence, not presents. With the Presence of the Holy Spirit with us, what more could we ask for?