Dec. 9, 2022 – Matthew 11:16-19
Today’s readings are about the importance of listening to what God says. The Gospel passage reminds us of the words at the end of the parable of the sower, “He who has ears to hear will hear.” Jesus rebukes the crowd for not listening. He compares it to the children in the marketplace who complain to their playmates, “We played the flute to you and you did not dance, we sang a lament and you did not beat your chests!”(11:17). There are children who are unable to understand and rejoice with others. Similarly, the generation Jesus addresses cannot recognize the “music” that God plays through His messengers, first John the Baptist and, then, Himself, Jesus. On the contrary, instead of humbly listening and welcoming the word that God wants to communicate, they pretend to judge His envoys: in their eyes, the Baptist appears as a possessed man, Jesus, on the other hand, as a “wiz and a drunkard” (11:18-19). They do not
let themselves be challenged by God’s newness, they do not know how to read the signs God sends. What is worse: they reject God in the name of God, they no longer listen to his prophets because they think they already know the truth. It happens to us too, when we do without God because we think we already know what God wants. When he called the first disciples, Jesus was clear, he told them, “Come after me” (Mt 4:19). He is the one we must follow; He is the one who traces the way. We do not always understand events, we do not always know how to recognize God’s voice in the events of history and personal life. But we must not stop listening to Him in faith, letting the Spirit enlighten us with the humility and naiveté of children.
For good workers…
– And Jesus incites his contemporaries, and us too, to turn away from preconceptions, to revise our thinking, to orient ourselves and act according to the commandment of love.
– Let us pause today to recognize what gifts the Lord has given us, in talents and acquired skills, and ask ourselves whether we are employing them for the good of our brothers and sisters. make life “tasty.”
Fr Joby Kavungal RCJ