MATTHEW 13;10-17 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION ( JULY 23, 2020)
Then his disciples came to him and said, “ Why do you speak to them in parables?”
Jesus answered, “ To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people. For the one who has will be given more; and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has. That is why I speak to them in parables; because they look and do not see; they hear; but they do not listen or understand. In them, the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled: However much you hear, you do not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back, and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For I tell you, many prophets and righteous people have longed to see the things you see, but they did not hear them.
POINTS OF REFLECTION
There are virtues that seem ordinary but if considered in a deeper sense would guide us into the hidden treasure in heaven. These virtues that I am referring to are: Acceptance, Choice and Talk.
This Bible reading started the question of why Jesus is speaking in parables. The wisdom of God is very difficult for us humans to understand. Jesus practically teaches humans by contextualizing his divine message for us to be able to understand its breadth and deepness. Teaching by parable is coined to a real life situation from which men are virtually in a state of simulation. It is the scenario that learning does not appear to be abstract but rather concrete.
The dullness of the human senses so described in this bible passage, points out man’s denial of accepting the presence of God in them. Godliness in us pertains to our willingness to accept God. Noticed that towards the end of the Bible reading Jesus told his disciple that “ if they will see, hear and understand, I will heal them.” God is just waiting for the right timing and that timing my dear brothers and sisters is on the occasion of acceptance. From there, God will heal the dullness in the eyes, ears and in the heart.
Upon the act of acceptance, comes the choice. Upon acceptance with the healing of the Father, personal choice would be noticeably different. Your daily tendencies would not be the same as it was before when you were not yet with Jesus. Significant change of personal preferences would be visible. What was usually okay, would appear to be not okay. Things in life change not by fate but by choice with the blessing of the Almighty Father.
It has been said that what makes a man unclean is not what he has taken in, but those that come out from the body emanating from the heart. The words that come out from the mouth makes him unclean much more the verbal implications of his bodily gestures and expressions that sometimes create a sensation of hair standing feeling. But once a person accepts God by virtue of his personal choice with the grace of the Father, His words would be like the words from the mouth of the Father that send a message to the chosen with the sense and feeling of a redeeming love. The way a person talks is not like the way before but in the way the Holy Spirit teams the tongue in the tone of the Father in heaven.
In conclusion, acceptance, choice and talk are considered extraordinary virtues that would allow a person to unfold the mystery of faith and discover the hidden treasure in heaven. To God be the glory. Amen.
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Doctor in Development Education ( Dev. Ed. D.), an all time educator as School Head and HEI Instructor.
