DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens.  And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens.  You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? – Luke 12:54-56

I know this frustration that Christ experienced, this frustration with holy people who cannot see the evil in their midst.  Certain people they seem to be blind to what is so obvious; certain people seem deaf to the voices of deception and lies.  And like Christ, I cry out, “Why do not know how to interpret this present time?”

What is it that blinds us so that we cannot discern the evil and the good?  So many things.  One source of our blindness is deep seated prejudice, making generalizations of a specific few, a cultural inheritance from a former time, an outcome of peer pressure to be loyal to the tribe.  Another source of our blindness is a lingering resentment, a vengeful and vindictive spirit.  Another source of our blindness is irrational fear, a fear fostered and magnified, a fear of change, a fear of exposure, a fear of the unknown, often a fear conjured by those who seek to control.  And another source of our blindness is the problem of self-interest, the viewing of our own needs as being more important than the needs of others, the placing ourselves at the center of the universe.

In Christ, we have a means to be cured of our blindness and our deafness.  It is the Spirit of Christ that can wash the dust and the mud from our eyes and open our ears to that which is beyond the rancor of the crowds.  In Christ … we are given the gift of discernment, if we allow ourselves to receive it, learn it, explore it, and put it into practice.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz