“And his disciples came and said to him: ‘Why speakest thou to them in parables?’ Who answered and said to them: ‘Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: but to them it is not given. For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound: but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away that also which he hath. Therefore do I speak to them in parables: because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled in them, wo saith: ‘By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand: band seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them.’”
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The disciples, following in the paths of compassion for others, inquire at an appropriate time of Jesus why He speaks to the people in parables. They do not ask, “Why do you speak to us” in parables, but “to them,” showing their concern for others rather than concern for themselves. It is a beautiful life and union with Jesus, Theophila, to live entirely for the sake of the love of the Beloved and His people, not grasping for anything for yourself, but giving yourself away in love, thus does the Divine Bridegroom say, “How beautiful are thy breasts,” which are acts of love of God and neighbor, “my sister, my spouse! Thy breasts are more beautiful than wine” (Canticle 4:10). Those who adhere to Jesus in this love know the mysteries of the kingdom, not needing degrees in theology, but learning His love by experience: “He hath loved the people, all the saints are in his hand: and they that approach to his feet, shall receive of his doctrine” (Deuteronomy 33:3). When Jesus then says “to you it is given” but “to them it is not,” this is not to sow despair, but rather that whoever has the desire and zeal for His love and His truth, it will be given to them in abundance: “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill” (Matthew 5:6), for the Lord never rejects, but welcomes with gladness and open arms even the most seemingly unlovable: “Why doth your master eat with publicans and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11). Those that don’t have this love and this truth fasten themselves instead to passing things, which God will not directly take away, but time will see them come to an end: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal” (Matthew 6:19), whereas love does not fade: “Love never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed” (1 Corinthians 13:8). St. John Chrysostom puts an interesting lesson here, that the one who cares not for things spiritual, even after being prompted, it is better to be silent around them, that they may not bear the weight of guilt for having had much admonishment and being stubborn, and so it is more loving to simply let them be, instead casting your nets into the hearts of those that desire the sweet fish of heavenly realities: “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught” (Luke 5:4), that the love that they have in their hearts may be further inflamed by the love you have, for King Solomon exhorts: “If two lie together, they shall warm one another” (Ecclesiastes 4:11), with the fires of the Holy Spirit. Or, this can mean that whoever loves, to them it will be given the virtues that they may love well: “He set in order love in me” (Canticle 2:4), but displays of piety and great virtue without love are hollow and empty: “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones, and of all filthiness” (Matthew 23:27), and will amount to nothing when one’s love story is read at the end of days: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the presence of the throne, and the books were opened” (Apocalypse 20:12). The love of Jesus pierced hearts clogged with sin, yet those that were cold with hate and disdain His love did not reach, for they, seeing Him work miracles and draw to God those that seemed forsaken, said, “This man is not of God” (John 9:16). In seeing the miracles and love with which He did them, they see, and do not understand, and in hearing His words they do not truly hear, for to the sick the finest wine is bitter and unpleasant, but to those thirsting or healthy, it is refreshing and lovely: “Wine was created from the beginning to make men joyful, and not to make them drunk” (Ecclesiasticus 31:35). So too is truth and divine love to the heart, for when it is sick with sin, error, or hate, these things are bitter and difficult, but to the lover of God, they are light, life, and all sweetness: “Thou art my helper and my protector: and in thy word I have greatly hoped” (Psalm 118:114). Moving into the prophecy of Isaiah, when one cannot penetrate to the reality of the love of God and neighbor in the Bible, they are hearing but do not hear, for this is the meaning of all Sacred Scripture. It is akin to seeing Jesus as a man, but not as God, not discerning the reality of God behind the love seen in His actions. The heart then, “grows gross” the farther away it is from an intimate love of God through Jesus, which takes place through one’s own actions, thus do “they shut their eyes,” for the will that holds the hand of Jesus with love and trust is the most precious gem one can have in life, but to release this hand for anything else is something ghastly for the soul: “Go your way, my children, go your way: for I am left alone” (Baruch 4:19); “’Why hath the Lord done so to this great city?’ And they shall answer: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and have adored strange gods, and served them” (Jeremias 22:8-9). To turn back to His love, however, is to immediately receive forgiveness: “Be of good comfort, my children, and cry to the Lord: for you shall be remembered by him that hath led you away. For as it was your mind to go astray from God; so when you return again you shall seek him ten times as much” (Baruch 4:27-28). Now, to be blinded in vice and error is a miserable life, but the one that seeks to be freed shall receive the healing of God: “’What wilt thou that I do to thee?’ But he said: ‘Lord, that I may see.’ And Jesus said to him: ‘Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole’” (Luke 18:41-42), but when the heart is full of the love of one’s error or sin, a different love will not be appealing to it: “Woe to you that join house to house and lay field to field, even to the end of the place” (Isaias 5:8). Now, to the one that was astray and finds Jesus, all that came before He allowed to happen that He may demonstrate His faithfulness, and that in knowing what it is like to be far from the waters of His love, they may drink from it with greater gratitude and affection: “As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?” (Psalm 41:2-3). Moving from this to the blessing of eyes that see and ears that hear, there is nothing on earth as beautiful as the soul in the state of grace: “But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these [lilies]. And if the grass of the field which is to day, and to morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith?” (Matthew 6:29-30). Blessed are you, Theophila, that hear the words of God with a lover’s heart, and turn them over in your mind, enjoying them like the finest honey: “Son of man, thy belly shall eat, and thy bowels shall be filled with this book, which I give thee. And I did eat it: and it was sweet as honey in my mouth” (Ezechiel 3:3). Or, blessed are you when you go before the Blessed Sacrament and behold by faith the face of Jesus, for in other communities they talk about how wonderful it would be to live when Jesus was alive, but to you it is given to find Him in the tabernacle in any Catholic Church. Mystics may drink from the Sacred Heart in ecstasy, but this same grace is given to you every time you receive the kiss of Jesus in Holy Communion at Mass: “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth” (Canticle 1:1). The great Old Testament saints saw the glory of the Lord in mysterious ways: “And I saw, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north: and a great cloud, and a fire infolding it, and brightness was about it: and out of the midst thereof, that is, out of the midst of the fire, as it were the resemblance of amber” (Ezechiel 1:4), but to you it is given to picture Him and speak with Him simply in prayer: “And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend” (Exodus 33:11), to hear His voice of love in a true understanding of the Bible: “His throat most sweet, and he is all lovely: such is my beloved, and he is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem” (Canticle 5:16), and to be united with Him in a sublime manner by communicating in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: “This is my body, which is given for you” (Luke 22:19); “They knew him in the breaking of bread” (Luke 24:35). The sacraments and divine mysteries are of the utmost beauty, and by their transforming you into your own expression of incarnate love, you become something truly splendorous, for you are the spouse of God, a dignity unfathomable to great thinkers of old, and the standard for the baptized faithful.