Scripture:
Reflection:
I have been sharing the scrutinies with the elect for the past couple of weeks, and I find myself enlightened as well. We may listen to the word of God, and think we get it, but unless you are going deeper into understanding what we are reading, we may be missing a great deal of information.
We see so many times in scripture where, for example, the Pharisees tell us the law, but Jesus says something completely opposite of what the Pharisees want us to believe – it is Jesus’ ideals of compassion and mercy that come through to all who hear him. In today’s readings, we see that the authorities could not grasp the idea that Jesus is the Son of God. As Jesus says, they claim to know God, but unlike them, Jesus says that he knows God and keeps his word. The people walking in Jesus’ midst who believed in his miracles were able to accept those miracles as truth – they believed!
Sometimes I find myself asking what it is that Jesus wants me to get out of the readings. Some days when I go to mass, it seems that the Homilist is talking to me – directly to me. And that is what the people in Jesus’ time had as well. They knew Jesus was mysterious, but so many had seen his miracles, or heard him speak his beautiful parables, and believed.
Allow yourself to separate from the desperation of wanting to understand and grasp every reading you attempt to read. There are some things that are mysterious for a reason. God will open those doors for you as he sees fit. Don’t be the stone thrower, but the one whose glory comes from the Father through understanding and belief.
Patty Masson is the Director of Adult Formation and Evangelization at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Spring, Texas.