Paradox

Acknowledging our apathy

Matthew 13:10-14, 16-17

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

            There is a profound paradox prevailing in the Church today.  On the one hand, you have apathy and alienation of Catholic Christians.  Record numbers no longer go to church or have left the Church completely.  Do you know what is the single largest Christian denomination?  It is ex-Catholics.  On the other hand, there’s a notable renewal and resurgence of real faith.  People are thirsty for faith: Bible studies are booming, people buy books by popular authors like Scott Hahn, Robert Barron, Matthew Kelly and John Antony!  Again, we’ll have over 30 people in RCIA this year.  Our daily Mass attendance is between 75 and 100 people, even during the summer.  Pope Francis, the Good Shepherd, is bringing back the lost sheep.  This paradox prevails all around us: on the one hand indifference to the faith, on the other hand, intensity of faith.

            In the gospel today, Jesus explains that this paradox is found in every parable he utters.  Jesus says, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.”  In other words, each parable contains life lessons for each person, but it’s very painful to apply them to ourselves.  Instead of seeing the plank in our own eye, we’d rather point out the splinter in our brother’s eyes.  You see, Jesus did not come to change the world, he came to change each person, so we might have an intimate friendship with him.  When we miss that point, we miss the parable, “we look but do not see,” and we end up on the wrong side of the paradox of Christianity.

            My friends we don’t need to study statistics to see this paradox, we only need to glance into our own hearts.  Can’t you see in your own life this paradox playing out: highs and lows, peaks and valleys in your walk with Jesus?  Remember how as a child you loved to serve at Mass, and then as a teenager you hated to serve at Mass!?  Some Sundays you think, “There are a thousand other things I’d rather do than go to Mass!”  Other Sundays you sigh with St. Augustine, “Late have I loved Thee, Beauty ever ancient, ever new!”  Sometimes we wonder, why would any man want to be a priest?  But once I asked my nephew if he wanted to be a priest, and he said, “No, way, I want to be a bishop, because he gets the cool hat and stick!”  Highs and lows, peaks and valleys; paradox in each person.

            “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears because they hear.”  We will be blessed indeed if we see not only the paradox all around us, but also the one inside us.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!