Daily Retreat 07/27/06
2006 Jul 27 Thu: Ordinary Weekday
Jer 2: 1-3. 7-8. 12-13/ Ps 35(36): 6-7ab. 8-9. 10-11/ Mt 13: 10-17
From today’s readings: “Be amazed at this, O heavens, and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD. Two evils have My people done: they have forsaken Me, the source of living waters; They have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.... How precious is your mercy, O God!... Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Problematic Parables
Since Jesus is the greatest teacher of all time, His use of parables is exemplary. And yet, while sometimes the parables do offer a concrete simile to help the audience understand abstract aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven, nonetheless, the parables generally mystify at least as much as they clarify.
But since Jesus brings the fullness of God’s revelation, it surely would have been counterproductive for Him to mislead the very people He came to save. Thus, it would be unfair to conclude that Jesus intended to confuse His listeners with the parables - instead, His “mystifying” traits shrewdly entice the listeners to use their own minds and creativity to consider the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. But for those who refuse to get involved and impatiently demand that the answers be spelled out for them, the parables properly shroud the mystery.
If we just gloss over the Lord’s parables, refusing to expend the necessary time and energy to profitably meditate on them, letting them come in one ear and out the other, then we continue to fulfill Isaiah’s pathetic prophecy about those who close their eyes and plug their ears to the saving revelation of God. But, if we, like the apostles, take the time to prayerfully ask God to help us fathom the mysteries of the parables, He will surely make our eyes and ears blessed to see and hear and understand what many prophets and righteous people longed to see and hear.
Jer 2: 1-3. 7-8. 12-13/ Ps 35(36): 6-7ab. 8-9. 10-11/ Mt 13: 10-17
From today’s readings: “Be amazed at this, O heavens, and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD. Two evils have My people done: they have forsaken Me, the source of living waters; They have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.... How precious is your mercy, O God!... Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Problematic Parables
Since Jesus is the greatest teacher of all time, His use of parables is exemplary. And yet, while sometimes the parables do offer a concrete simile to help the audience understand abstract aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven, nonetheless, the parables generally mystify at least as much as they clarify.
But since Jesus brings the fullness of God’s revelation, it surely would have been counterproductive for Him to mislead the very people He came to save. Thus, it would be unfair to conclude that Jesus intended to confuse His listeners with the parables - instead, His “mystifying” traits shrewdly entice the listeners to use their own minds and creativity to consider the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. But for those who refuse to get involved and impatiently demand that the answers be spelled out for them, the parables properly shroud the mystery.
If we just gloss over the Lord’s parables, refusing to expend the necessary time and energy to profitably meditate on them, letting them come in one ear and out the other, then we continue to fulfill Isaiah’s pathetic prophecy about those who close their eyes and plug their ears to the saving revelation of God. But, if we, like the apostles, take the time to prayerfully ask God to help us fathom the mysteries of the parables, He will surely make our eyes and ears blessed to see and hear and understand what many prophets and righteous people longed to see and hear.
posted by FrPitstick | 8/01/2006
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