Daily Gospel Reflection

Don’t Block God’s Message

Welcome back. Today's reading is so brief, and it's easy sometimes to miss that. But it's radical, it's relevant, and it's brief. It's from Luke's Gospel, 9:43b-45 chapter nine, "But while they were marveling at everything Jesus did, He said to His disciples, 'Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men.' But they did not understand this saying. And it was concealed from them that they should not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about the scene." What jumps out at you? Yesterday, right? Jesus is trying to get a message through. Yesterday, in yesterday's reading, Jesus said to them-- after Peter confesses that he is the Christ, Jesus says, "Don't tell anybody this. The Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, the scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised."

And today, Jesus is saying to them, "Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men." So he's trying to convey something to them, and they're having a hard time getting their heads around it. Now, partly it's being concealed by the Spirit. We hear that in the scriptures. But sometimes we miss the things that are right before us. They're hidden in plain sight. And in many ways, Jesus was constantly revealing who he was to the disciples, but in many ways, he was hidden in plain sight, and they were unable to see him. I don't know what you take away from today. I don't know what word or phrase or idea jumps away at you, but the thing that captures my imagination, that captures my attention here today is this idea that, okay, I wonder what God is trying to get. I wonder what God is trying to get across to me. And I'm like, I'm not hearing it. I'm not perceiving it. I am missing it. It is right there in front of me, but I can't see it. He's like telling me in different ways on different occasions, but I'm not seeing it. I'm not hearing it.

And what is it in me that is blocking whatever it is that God is trying to reveal to me. And we've all had that frustration with other people, right? You're trying to get something across to your child, I've had that, to your parent, I've had that, to your friend, I've had that. But guess what? I've also had the situation where my child has been trying to get something across to me, or my parent has been trying to get something across to me, or my friend has been trying to get across to me, and I've not been able to-- so this is common in human interaction. So how do we chisel away the blockages? How do we open ourselves in new ways to really see and hear what is happening around us and the message that God is trying to deliver to us? Have a great day. And remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.