20170725
REMOVING THE OBSTACLES
FROM SEEING AND HEARING
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Red.
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First reading
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Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20
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1 On the third new moon
after the people of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that day
they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 And when they set out
from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the
wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Lo, I am coming to you
in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also
believe you for ever.”
Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. 10 And
the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and
consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, 11 and
be ready by the third day; for on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the
sight of all the people.
16 On the morning of the
third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the
mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the
camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the
people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of
the mountain. 18 And Mount Sinai was
wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon
it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the
whole mountain quaked greatly. 19 And as the sound of
the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in
thunder. 20 And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai,
to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to
the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Daniel 3:52-56
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52
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"Blessed
are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all
forever; And blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted
above all for all ages.
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53
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Blessed
are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all
forever.
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54
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Blessed
are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all
forever.
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55
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Blessed
are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
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56
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Blessed
are you in the firmament of heaven, praiseworthy and glorious forever.
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Matthew
13 : 10-17
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them
in parables?” 11 And he answered
them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it has not been given. 12 For to him who
has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not,
even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I
speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do
not hear, nor do they understand. 14 With them indeed
is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says:
‘You
shall indeed hear but never understand,
and
you shall indeed see but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and
their ears are heavy of hearing,
and
their eyes they have closed,
lest
they should perceive with their eyes,
and
hear with their ears,
and
understand with their heart,
and
turn for me to heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they
hear. 17 Truly, I say to
you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not
see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
REMOVING THE OBSTACLES FROM SEEING AND HEARING
Why do some have faith and some don’t? The same message is
given to all and yet not all receive it. This was the same question St Paul
asked. “But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who
has believed our message?’ So faith comes from what is heard, and what is
heard comes through the word of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard?
Indeed they have; for ‘Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their
words to the ends of the world.’” (Rom 10:16-18) Obviously, therefore faith
does not depend on one’s intellectual capacity to grasp the message. We
have as many great scientists, doctors, and political leaders who believe in
God, and as many who also do not.
So why do some people believe in God and some do not? Jesus said, “So in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being
fulfilled: You will listen and listen again, but not understand, see and
see again, but not perceive. For the heart of this nation has grown coarse,
their ears are dull of hearing.” Many see and not perceive; hear and do
not understand. This is inevitable. That is why some are converted
and more convinced of something than another. Again, as Jesus
underscored, faith is not a matter of knowledge that comes from hearing or
seeing, but understanding of the heart.
What are the causes that hinder us from perceiving with the heart?
We have grown coarse because of sin and the temptations of the world. The world is consumed by
consumerism and ruled by materialism. It is about satisfying the
comforts of the human body. The world wants immediate gratification of
comfort and pleasure. It cannot wait. That is why there are so many
products in the world that entice the eyes, the minds and the body. We
want to taste, see and experience all the good things of this world. When
we live like animals, merely attending to the insatiable needs of our body, we
tend to neglect the Spirit. We live the life of an animal, eat, work,
enjoy and sleep, without real meaning and purpose, now and after death.
We grow coarse also because of routine, both in our religious
practices and in our daily life. It is true that daily life is normally a routine but it is
different to just go through the routine and not grow in depth in assimilating
the richness of what we do every day. Take the example of those
attending mass daily or pray the Liturgy of the Hours, Rosary or Divine Mercy
chaplet. We can go through the routine of saying these prayers and
yet not really benefiting from them because it is a routine that we go
through. We do not pause to understand more deeply what we are
celebrating or doing each day. This applies to the other areas of our
life as well, be it the practice of customs, mundane tasks at home or work in
the office. Routine practices when not assimilated and reflected upon
become a chore and reduce us to an automaton.
Thirdly, we become coarse because of indifference and neglect. Why do we lose taste for God and for prayer or praying the
Word of God? This is because of neglect. We begin by missing one
Sunday mass, or skipping part of the Liturgy of the Hours and very soon, we
will stop going for mass all together and the other pious practices as
well. We do not lose faith overnight. But indifference sets in when
we are no longer connected with God regularly. So routine practices do
have a role in our lives to keep us connected with God and with the meaning of
life. However, as I have said earlier, without deepening our
understanding of what we do, they become meaningless and gradually we will fall
into neglect and indifference because of a lack of appreciation and
understanding. Clearly, whether it is the temptations of the world, the
sin of the flesh, or neglect and indifference or routine and perfunctory
practices, when brought together, lead us to become distant from God.
What about those who are dull of hearing? Today, many are
dull of hearing because there is information overload. There is so much information in the Media that we are simply
spoilt for choice and even paralyzed by the plethora of choices. We do
not have time to consume all the information before us. On the other
hand, many of us do not make informed choices on what to read. We
end up reading fake news, sensational news and some are indoctrinated by
radical ideologies. No wonder, in spite of mass communication, today there is a
communication breakdown because there are simply too many emails to read, too
much information to absorb. As a consequence, whether it is on religious
matters or others, people no longer have time to read serious and in-depth reflections.
This explains why Twitter and Instagram have taken over the other platforms of
communication.
The second reason why we are dull of hearing is because of pride
and intellectualization. We think that knowing God is a matter of logical argument based
on empirical science and experimentation. At times, the study of theology
and knowledge of science can become obstacles to come to know and encounter
God. This is not to say that theology and sciences are not important
because they help us to purify our faith in God so that faith will not become a
myth or some superstitious belief. Faith in God must also be reasonable,
that is to say, a human way to encounter Him. But many of us mistake our
knowledge of theology and sciences as real knowledge when they are means to
encounter the Sacred and the Ultimate of life. When we seek just to
defend our clever arguments to win our case, then Jesus would say to us, “they
have shut their eyes for fear they shall see with their eyes, hear with their
ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by me.”
The third factor that causes us to shut our ears is because of
skepticism due to scandals and impropriety, injustices and mismanagement. This by far is the most prevalent factor, especially those who
have been hurt by religious leaders or believers. They are bitter with
God and with them. They lose confidence in God and in the
institution. All are seen to be hypocrites, untrustworthy, uncaring,
insincere and mercenary. Indeed, many have left the Church because
they have been hurt by the unjust practices of the Church and organizations and
most of all, when they do not agree with the Church leaders. They
feel that the Church does not care except for herself, her institutions and
structures.
Indeed, if we were to see and hear clearly today, then we must be
disposed to seeing and hearing. Moses told the people to prepare themselves and to consecrate
themselves if they want to hear the voice of God. To consecrate is to set
apart all our preoccupations and our ideas, and be docile to the voice of
God. The Lord told Moses, “Go to the people and tell them to prepare
themselves today and tomorrow. Let them wash their clothing and hold
themselves in readiness for the third day, because on the third day the Lord
will descend on the mountain of Sinai in the sight of all the people.”
But this external purification of oneself must be an expression of the inner
disposition of the purity and openness of one’s mind and heart and not
something purely external.
Only when the people were prepared, did Moses then lead “the
people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the
mountain.” To stand at the bottom of
the mountain means to be receptive, to be open and to be ready to act when the
Word is spoken to them. This is the kind of disposition needed if we are
to hear the voice of God and perceive His presence and instructions.
When God comes, He will not come through logic and theories.
He comes through an event. As the first reading tells us, He manifests Himself in
nature, under the signs of peals of thunder, clouds, smoke and lightning.
Indeed, the reality of God and our conviction of Him will not come from
intellectual faith or human wisdom and philosophy but from an encounter with
Him in the mysteries of life. This was why our Lord taught in
parables. “’Because the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed
to you, but they are not revealed to them.’” Parables are not meant
to be rationalized or be explained away. They are meant to enable us to
enter into the experience that the parable is seeking to convey. Only when
we can identify with that experience, can we then relate with God who comes to
visit us through the daily events of life. This is what the Lord said,
“The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and
listen without hearing or understanding.” The problem with many people is
that they try to rationalize about God and hence are never able to encounter
Him in their daily life. The understanding that is needed is not of the
mind but of the heart.
Written by The Most Rev
William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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