The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 13:10-17
The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted and I heal them.
“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.”
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
I am sure that like in my case, the adults in your life warned you not to touch the iron or the stove, lest you get burnt. But, like me, no matter how many times they warned you against it, you did not learn what burnt meant until you actually experienced the pain that extreme heat causes!
No matter how well or how in different ways someone explained the meaning of the word, the fact is that no one knows what “burn” means until s/he experiences it! That is what Jesus is saying to us today. Though we have the benefit of learning the message embedded in the parables through the Gospels, many of us still do not understand their meaning until we experience these ourselves. That is when Jesus’ teachings will finally enter, but not just in our mind, but find root in our hearts.
Like the word burnt, the meaning of many words is only a mental construct in our heads, but removed from our heart. Words such as lonely, depressed, abused, addicted, homeless, persecuted, rejected, poor, immigrant, refugee, discriminated, frightened and many other afflictions which humans all over the world -and in our own neighborhoods- currently are experiencing.
While it is true that we would have to live a thousand lives to experience all of these afflictions and learn their true meaning, it should be enough that we experience just one or two of such to fathom the meaning of the others.
For over two thousand years the Gospel authors and many other faithful writers have done their best to explain each parable -and other scriptures. It is up to each of us to finally let our “burnt” experiences help us to see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears and understand with our own hearts and -finally- be converted.
Action of the Day
What “burnt” scars do you have? Which scars do you think would allow you to understand the pain others are suffering now? What difficult moments in your life have prepared you to understand with your heart and to finally turn your life over to God?
Audio Reflection:
