How lucky they were!

"Blessed are your eyes because they see . . ."

Word for Thursday: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072717.cfm

Mt 13: 10 - 17

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

Our Gospel for this Thursday ends with what I have always thought was a reference by Jesus to his disciples about their good fortune.  Win the lottery?  Not that kind of fortune.  With their eyes and ears they are blessed, fortunate enough, to live in the time they did when our Lord walked this earth and shared with them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.  Not through a second source, or the Scriptures (remember there was no New Testament, as we call it, at this time), or some Church decree.  They were blessed to stand in the physical presence of Jesus of Nazareth, to see him, to hear him, witness his miracles and see the effect of his charismatic personality upon the crowds.  How blessed they were to see and hear this first hand. To top it off, to see and experience the risen Lord before their very eyes, to touch him and speak with him before the Ascension. Yes, fortunate indeed - blessed.

But the passage mirrors what we have been hearing in our Gospels the last few Sundays about the parables of what the "kingdom of heaven" is like. The disciples question Jesus privately about his teaching method: "Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?" Why not just tell them outright about these truths? Seems like riddles.

Jesus answers by reminding them about their personal insight: "Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted." Our Lord has been with them, spoken privately, answered their questions personally, and through the grace of the Holy Spirit, more understanding has been given to them than to others.  This will be necessary as they set out on mission, of course, but also a very great privilege.

In the end, we may feel a bit jealous in a good way.  Yet we too are blessed.  We live centuries beyond these ancient times, yes, yet we have the benefit of so much more of Christian history and experience. The treasure of our faith is ever ancient and ever new. As we experience the risen Lord present to us behind the signs of the sacraments, in his Word, in the Holy Eucharist, in the good works and inspiration of others, in the faith that we share, in our present understanding of the mysteries of God's creation, don't we have so much more?

That being said, aren't we among the most blessed, yet also at times among the most complacent.  Despite our personal problems and concerns, let's face it, life is very easy for us.  Modern culture and science and the advancement in economic development has made life, well, pretty cushy in this part of the world. In  fact, for so many, religion has become more of a hobby at best or simply an afterthought if at all.  We need faith and religion to jump start our complacency and challenge us ever more deeply to live by Gospel values which challenge the self centered world today.

The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, the understanding of God in our lives, and for us Christians, our responsibility to be the Lord's arms, feet, eyes, ears, and voice in the world is so necessary today.

We may feel the Apostles were very fortunate to have lived in the physical presence of Jesus the Christ.  Indeed they were.  But, we have so much to give as well.  Have we let the Gospel really touch our lives and call us to conversion of heart?  Does the home we live in or the car we drive or the place we spend our money, reflect what I profess each Sunday at Mass? If we took the Scriptures seriously enough, we would see our need to conform more deeply each day.