Thursday, March 3, 2011

Be careful then how you listen...

“Be careful how you listen,” Jesus tells his disciples, “ because whoever has something will be given more, but whoever has nothing will have taken away from him even the little he thinks he has.”
Jesus explained his parable about the seed, “word of God,” to these disciples  “but to the rest it comes by means of parables, so that they may look and not see, and listen but not understand.”  The Church asserts that Jesus, himself,  is the "Word of God," the seed,  the transforming "Revelation of God" hidden from some, revealed to others.

Be careful then how you listen... lest the devil come and take the message away from you, or the time of testing  come and you just won't care enough to endure; or the worries, riches, and pleasures of life will choke off the revelation's meaning for you so it doesn't bear fruit.  Eventually, of course, “everything that is hidden will be brought to light” but only the wise virgins who listened, cared to bring enough oil and will partake in the wedding feast. The foolish, though they belatedly obtained the needed oil,  will knock too late and be locked out.   Be careful then how you listen, Jesus warns his disciples.