If you would hearken to my commandments
“If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river and your vindication like the waves of the sea” (cf. Is 28:18)
If you would hearken: So, if you would listen and accept the word, you would be truly rooted in God, that is, in Him Who Is, you would be in peace, or rather you would live in a peace that no one and nothing could take from you.
The encounter with the truth begins with listening. But how to listen? What is listening? It is art. The Gospel speaks of God's various speeches: through John the Baptist in a different way, through Jesus of Nazareth in a different way, although both of them proclaimed the true word of God. However, it is not the outward shape of a word that determines its source from God. To hear God's voice, one must receive it with an open heart, that is, with conscience. You have to make up your mind to listen to your conscience. This is a basic and essential decision that opens the true story of God's encounters.
The crucial decisive moment of our meeting with God depends on whether we open ourselves to the voice of God who speaks, we hear it and answer it: Here I am, send me (cf. Is 6: 8) or: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening (cf. 1 Sam 3:10) - In this context, we must see Christ's regret: “To what shall I compare this generation? … It is like children. We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge, but you did not mourn.”
(cf. Mt 11, 16)
The children of today's Gospel do not take up the call to play, they carry some grudges and regrets, always they look for "something". Many do this throughout their lives. However, in order to maintain their indecisiveness, they justify it internally - for example, by a grudge against others. But time is running out and so with it the opportunity to take up life. This way, you can sleep through your best chance of becoming truly yourself.
The Lord Jesus has a grudge against the Israelites, even though it was humanly difficult for them to believe that He was the One they were waiting for. Even St. John the Baptist, who directly pointed to him, asked him from prison: Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?
(cf. Mt 11:3) What about the other Jews? Christ was so radically above Israel's expectations that it was indeed very hard to believe. To this day, it is difficult for us to believe that He is the expected Savior after so many years of theological reflection.
Do I believe that in Him, in Jesus Christ, the Almighty, the Infinite, Inconceivable God, the Source of everything, came? In him, who then allowed himself to be crucified! And the world is still ruled by money, lust for power, strength ... But God always comes differently than we would imagine, He always surprises. Those who are too attached to the idea of how God is coming will not see Him in their lives. He is humble, he does not want to impose himself, he does not force him, he does not want to charm us with the strength of his magnificence, but through a gesture of humble love He tries to draw us to His heart. Hence his "weakness", still raises our doubts until today.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george