A reflection on the Gospel according to Matthew 13:10-17
(Tultenango, Thursday, July 21, 2022)
Polarization or division is a global phenomenon that we can observe throughout the world. It takes place in every aspect of human beings in these contrasting terms: conservative and liberal, theism and atheism, republican and democracy, religious and secular, holy and profane, etc…
This phenomenon is not new in the history of humankind. In today’s Gospel, Jesus shows us a division between those who are able to understand his parables and those who are not. In other words, there is an inevitable division between believers and non-believers. How does Jesus deal with this?
On the one hand, Jesus does not blame or criticize those who are unable to understand his parables. On the other hand, he affirms that it is a great blessing for those who are able to understand his parables because they have been granted the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
Facing this division, as the greatest preacher, Jesus keeps lighting up a wonderous hope in those who believe in him. Indeed, Jesus even entrusts these believers with a mission to make non-believers become their neighbors. Evidently, in answering a Pharisee’s question “who is my neighbor?” Jesus presents the parable of a good Samaritan (cf. Lk 10:29-37) and invites the Pharisee to do likewise.
We are placed on a vast mission amid a world where its polarization is dominating more than ever. What authentic hope can we bring to such a world? Gratefully, our holy father Dominic left us a precious heritage that brother Thomas Aquinas summarized in this motto: “Contemplata Aliis Tradere.” (cf. ST II-II, 188.6). This maxim can be described in the two unbreakable dimensions of our charism which are contemplative and apostolic. More specifically, these two unseparated dimensions have been even illustrated by the twin parables that Jesus spells out for those who want to inherit eternal life (cf. Lk 10:27): becoming both a good Samaritan and a Mary, to carry a healing ministry to those they encounter.
Sacramentally, we are about to receive Jesus in the Eucharist who becomes the greatest mystery and the blessing his disciples had taken. Once receiving such a blessing we can not help sharing it with other people by making them, especially non-believers of a polarised world become our neighbors no matter how limited and imperfect we are.
Finally, the following message of Padre Pio may encourage us to keep illuminating the wonderous hope in the polarized world regardless of the polarized situations of the world:
A mother who is embroidering. Her son is sitting on a low stool, watching her mother’s work from the upside down of the embroidery. The son only sees the disordered knots and the tangled threads of the embroidery. Then he complains, “Mother, what are you doing? It looks too confusing.” The mother lowers the embroidery frame and shows the other side of her work. Each color is in its place and the variety of threads form a harmonious design. Perhaps, we occasionally see the reverse side of the creation as the child sits on a low stool.
