26 July 2018 - hidden in plain sight

Today's Readings (Audio)

"But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

Jesus speaks to the crowd in parables. He speaks in a way in which, if they choose, they can receive his message. They have to use their eyes to see, their ears to hear, and their hearts to understand. Jesus doesn't use logical argumentation that will just overwhelm their minds and force them to agree. The parables draw on simple enough imagery that they are open to those who will receive them. But at the same time the simplicity itself is a stumbling block to the proud.

Jesus does not desire to exclude, but to invite. The disciples have accepted the invitation already and so Jesus is able to offer them explanations of the parables. So too with us whenever we go to mass and the wisdom of the Church is offered to us. This is of course predicated on us accepting Jesus and his Church, the successors of the disciples of first received the explanation. It depends on us not ignoring the parables because they seem simplistic or trite or because we think we already know what they contain.

Let us never close our hearts to receiving the revelation Jesus wants to give us. It is a real risk that we get so used to the way things are that we close our minds to anything new.

Two evils have my people done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living waters;

Then, perhaps, we feel the need to go off and seek wisdom elsewhere, from other traditions, apart from Christ. This is an illusion that may offer distraction but cannot ultimately satisfy.

They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that hold no water.

Jesus wants us to accept his invitation to see what prophets and righteous people longed to see and to hear what they longed to hear. He wants us to open our hearts even if just a little. For when someone can receive a little, "more will be given and he will grow rich".

There is a sense in which the truth of Jesus is hidden. But it is hidden in plain sight. It is ready and waiting for all with eyes to see. May Jesus himself open our eyes to see ever more clearly.

For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.