Gross Heart

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/072116.cfm) reminds me that I should always check the state of my heart. 

When we have visitors, we almost always clean the house. Yes, we still clean the house on a normal day. But cleaning is different when we are expecting visitors, especially important ones. We make extra effort to have the house the best way possible. We bring out special plates, utensils and things that we don’t use on a regular day. In as much as we do this much preparation for special guests, we should also do the same with our hearts.

The state of our heart affects the intensity and effectiveness of God’s presence in our lives.

In the gospel, we see that the people did not understand what Jesus was saying because of the state of their hearts. They hear what Jesus says, and sees his actions. But they do not understand because of their hearts. We see this a lot in the gospels. Jesus heals people and preaches to people, but not all are ready and willing to accept him. Same message, same person delivering the message, different effects – because of different states of their hearts.

We should check our hearts. We might be so busy and so caught up in the world that we do not have time to check our hearts. We may not realize it, but our hearts may not be fit anymore to hear and receive God. He has been talking to us, he has been making his presence alive and real. This effort from him is constant. But if we don’t feel it, then probably something’s wrong. If we are always worried and depressed, then we are definitely not getting God’s promise of peace and abundance. We may not be hearing God’s word. our hearts may not be in a proper disposition to welcome him.

May we never neglect to check our hearts, and always do our best by constant prayer and making the most out of the sacrament of reconciliation to clean our hearts and ready it to receive God.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. thank you for another chance to love and serve you. thank you for the reminder. Lord, I am sorry for being so busy with the world that I don’t remember you. sorry for neglecting the state of my heart that causes me not to hear and feel you. help me do my best to keep it clean, to constantly pray and confess and try to live right so I would always be ready and sensitive to you. amen.

Blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-

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July 21, 2016
Lectionary: 398
Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13

This word of the LORD came to me:
Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear!

I remember the devotion of your youth,
how you loved me as a bride,
Following me in the desert,
in a land unsown.
Sacred to the LORD was Israel,
the first fruits of his harvest;
Should any presume to partake of them,
evil would befall them, says the LORD.

When I brought you into the garden land
to eat its goodly fruits,
You entered and defiled my land,
you made my heritage loathsome.
The priests asked not,
“Where is the LORD?”
Those who dealt with the law knew me not:
the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after useless idols.

Be amazed at this, O heavens,
and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD.
Two evils have my people done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living waters;
They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that hold no water.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 36:6-7ab, 8-9, 10-11

R. (10a) With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
O LORD, your mercy reaches to heaven;
your faithfulness, to the clouds.
Your justice is like the mountains of God;
your judgments, like the mighty deep.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house;
from your delightful stream you give them to drink.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.
Keep up your mercy toward your friends,
your just defense of the upright of heart.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.

Alleluia See Mt 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mt 13:10-17

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:

You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted
and I heal them.

“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.”