16th Week in Ordinary Time : Thursday 27th July 2023

Ever get the feeling that increasingly, in this Wifi-social media-gadget-saturated world of ours, people look, but they do not see; they hear, but they do not listen; perceive but do not understand; acknowledge but do not believe? Get on the subway train and pay attention to the commuters. There is remarkable silence as everyone is caught up in their own world. There is a glassy dullness in the look of one whose eyes are glued to the screen of the handphone, and they have no awareness of everything happening around them. Perhaps this ancient history repeats itself, for even Jesus made this observation in His own time.

The Lord saw people who had stopped thinking and discerning, being contented instead to accept whatever was told them. There was no critical thinking; no one probed to know in-depth any matter, and none cared to find out the Truth. “Truth? What is Truth?” scoffed Pontius Pilate.

But there are some, a minority perhaps, whose eyes do see and whose ears do hear. They are the people who follow Jesus. They are attracted to His word and ponder it in their hearts day and night. More importantly, they obey the Word and apply it in their lives. As such, though they live in the world, they are not of the world, for they do not subscribe to its values. They are called “happy” because they see the Truth, which has set them free.

 To You glory and praise for evermore.