Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 319

He answered them, “The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

Enjoying a long period of stable prosperity, the Roman Empire was rife with religious speculation. Many thoughtful people with enough leisure time for meditation and study entered “mystery religions.” We know little of these esoteric groups today precisely because they left few written documents. Their doctrines were revealed only to members and only through secret rituals. 

Struggling to explain the inexplicable, Christian missionaries often used the language of these mystery religions. True disciples understood what was being said because they had the Spirit of Jesus.

On the one hand, this is not terribly strange: a member of any group, initiated into its spirit, understands its language, traditions and ways of doing things. Even apparent nonsense makes sense to the member. That is true of a Marine battalion, a Latino street gang, or a Christian community. But, on the other hand, Christians take exception to that general principle because our spirit is that of the One God, the Holy Spirit.

To those outside everything comes in parables….
Others may look and not perceive, hear and listen and not understand.

Even in a tolerant country like the United States, being a Christian can make one feel isolated. Just as you are thinking yours is a Christian country, you realize many of its core values are alien to the gospel.

Saint Paul explained this dilemma:

Now the natural person does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it is judged spiritually. The spiritual person, however, can judge everything but is not subject to judgment by anyone. For “who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Cor 2:14-16)

In today’s gospel, Jesus challenges his disciples: 

“Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

His disciples were still in school. They were still being initiated into the mysterious ways of God. We too, are often flustered by the Gospel; it is not what we expected to hear. We must continually attend the Holy Spirit, listening for its guidance and direction, as we navigate the complex, ever-changing world around us.