"Jesus proposed another parable," says Matthew. That's the beginning of today's Gospel reading, and it forces us to think again about the what and the why of the parables deployed by Jesus mid-ministry.
Anyone tracking the flow of Matthew's Gospel knows that Jesus' parable discourse kicks-in right after the Pharisees accuse Jesus of working with the Prince of Demons.
Jesus reacts to this high-level accusation by disclosing his message in parables. Why?
The short answer is this: to fulfill Scripture. For some reason, Jesus thinks that the hardness of the Pharisee's hearts play an important part in the fulfillment of Scripture. This is sort of a strange thing for us modern Westerners to think about, but it's worth meditating on why it was that Jesus and his apostles were committed to pointing out that the Scriptures had been fulfilled in and through them.
Jesus cites Isaiah to make the point that as much as things change they also stay the same. Like their ancestors before them, these Jewish leaders have ears but can't understand and have eyes but can't perceive. But the deeper point that Isaiah is making, and Jesus is no doubt alluding to by citing him, is that the idols they themselves worship are turning them into the very things they themselves have become. Like the golden calf, made with valuable gold, these Pharisees then, as well as in Jesus' own day, have fake ears that can't hear and fake eyes that can't see.
You become what you worship. That's the point.
The lesson, as far as this point is concerned, is to watch out for what you set up as an idol in your own life! Not just so that you don't become blind and deaf, but so that you don't miss what comes next!
That is, the hiddenness of the kingdom and its value.
For Catholic laity in Los Angeles, this is all the more pressing since we are surrounded by false visions and blind idols. The city of Los Angeles isn't really what it appears to be. There are, no doubt, weeds along with the wheat, but, if you pay close attention with eyes to see and ears to hear, there are small things hidden within the whole batch that is Los Angeles.
I think of St. Monica Academy, CPU, St. Didacus, the many faithful priests (young and old), the people from each and every parish that are starting apostolates and doing their part to get at these small beginning of hidden fruitfulness.
In my humble opinion, I think Catholics in Los Angeles, armed with the parables of Christ, should be positive about the fact that the wheat flour of this city is mixed with yeast of Christ's faithful workers.
Hey everyone, sorry to whiplash you back to another platform, but I’m going to move over to Patreon. This platform has been tough and not as smooth as Patreon. I get it: Locals is more protective of free speech. But the fact is this. I’m not that controversial that I’m not worried about getting deplatformed by Patreon. What I’m looking for is simplicity. I’m not really looking to have a profile and then a community page and then navigate both. I’m looking to simply connect with you guys, give exclusive access to content for my monthly supporters, and make it as simple as possible to do both.
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Hello members and supporters, I really want to honor those who have been supporting me on this platform. Many of you are members, but several of you support me monthly. I’m so grateful for that, especially since I don’t do a lot of exclusive supporters-only content. But I want to do something special for you. Here it is:
I want to begin by doing a monthly class on the Gospel of John. This will by through Google Classroom and we will use Google Meet. This class will specifically look at St. John’s theology of the cross. Right now, this is my special interest, as I am writing a dissertation on John’s Atonement Theology. For a long time, scholars have been arguing that John has no real interest in the cross of Jesus, since his aim is to highlight Jesus descent and ascent. The cross, these scholars argue, is sort of in-the-way of John getting to his larger point about resurrection and ascension. I want to challenge all of this. We are going to break some new and fresh ground on the study ...
