Open your eyes, ears and hearts

Word of Faith is a weekly break down of this week's scripture readings. Dive deeper into what the Gospel message at Mass will be.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. — Romans 8:18 

“Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.” 

Last Sunday we heard from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 11:25-30, of Jesus’ invitation to those who accepted the revelation of His divine sonship to find rest from their labors and burdens: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28). Those who accepted the invitation would receive the fullness of the revelation of Jesus’ divine sonship, that of His suffering, death and resurrection. 

We too have received the fullness of the revelation of Jesus’ divine sonship and that of His suffering, death and resurrection. The question the Scriptures pose to us on this Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time is: How do we respond to the invitation of Jesus’ divine sonship and that of His suffering, death and resurrection? Jesus provides us the answer by his own quoting of the Prophet Isaiah (Is.6:9-10), “You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people.” Jesus goes on to say, “lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted and I will heal.” The answer is we must open our eyes, ears and hearts. 

To unlock the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and to receive the fullness of the revelation of Jesus’ divine sonship, we must see and confront the true realities of the world with our own eyes. “Blessed are your eyes, because they see” (Mt. 13:16). We are called to see the world for what it is, so that we can bring about conversion and healing. For true and lasting conversion and healing to take place, we must be like the sowers who prepare the soil to receive the seed. This then requires us the ability to hear the word proclaimed, and a desire to understand that word. “Blessed are your ears because they hear” (Mt. 13:16). Who is the Word? Jesus is the Word.  

The Parable of the Sower illustrates the importance of faith and endurance. To receive the mysteries of heaven, the faithful must have the ability to see and hear and to open their hearts to receiving God’s Word, His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This also means we must accept a share in the cross of Jesus Christ. If God the Father is the sower, then the seed is His Son. We are the soil that receives the seed. It is God who prepares the soil. 

God provides for us not only to receive the seeds of faith, but we are called to be the sower of those seeds as well; prepare the hearts of others to receive the seed, in His word proclaimed and the sacrament of His body and blood. “Thus, have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods, and softening it with showers, blessing its yield” (Ps. 65:9-10). All this was achieved through the blood of the cross. 

What part is each of us willing to play in revealing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven? St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading from Letter to the Romans: “I consider that the suffering of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us” (Rm 8:18). St. Paul was willing to accept a share in the divine sonship of Jesus Christ by seeing what truly was reality, hearing what was being said and opening his heart to receiving Jesus Christ. He then accepted a share in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. St. Paul accepted a share not only in the cross, but also in what the cross would bring about: “We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven bring about a new creation that is sown and fertilized by the blood of the cross.  

We have seen with our own eyes the mighty works of God and heard with our own ears those works proclaimed. The mighty works of God are seen every time we participate in Mass and witness the consecration of the Holy Eucharist. Through the words of consecration spoken and proclaimed, we witness the Lord present in his body and blood. “Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it and hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Mt.13:16).