Finding God Within
Summary: This text highlights the transformative phase in the Lord’s teachings, characterised by the use of Parables, to convey the concept of the Kingdom within. It emphasises the significance of the Parable of the Sower as a profound journey towards discovering the internal Kingdom. If time is limited, the conclusion provides a concise overview.
Note: One can find it hard to cope with the length of this text. Maybe it can help to read first “XI- Conclusion” to see where it is aiming. It serves also as an introduction.
“The Law and the prophets were until John.
From that time the kingdom of God is proclaimed,
and everyone forces his way into it.” (Lk. 16:16)
I- Introduction
When on Ash Wednesday I hear the priest say: “Repent and believe in the Gospel” I feel I miss the French wording: “Convertissez-vous,…”, i.e. “Convert, and believe in the Gospel”. “Convert” to “be converted” is different from “repent”. Is it more powerful? Does it mean something else? Or does it add to it?
In English, one rarely finds that the use of the verb “convert” means “repent”. Even so, one finds it at least once in the English version of a document by Pope Paul VI, the Apostolic Constitution on Fast and Abstinence. The first line of this document starts with: “Be converted and believe in the Gospel”.
I am told the English “convert” in brief sounds like: “to change your religion”. Despite all this, we use expressions like “second conversion” to mean not a change of religion (this would entail the first conversion), but to go from being a lukewarm catholic, to “converting” and entering into a living relationship with the Lord. Think of St. Teresa of Avila’s conversion: she was catholic, she was a nun, and despite 20 years of religious life, 15 of them practising contemplative prayer, she still needed a second conversion, a turning toward Jesus who dwelt within her (see this article on her second conversion). Many saints went through this second conversion, to the point that the “second conversion” is considered as an important teaching in spiritual life.
Think of St. Anthony the Great who being a very good parishioner, one day hears Jesus’ Call to follow Him more closely: leave everything and come and follow me in the desert, search for me. (For the Saint’s life by St. Athanasius read here) (On the meaning of this second conversion read the article on Hearing Jesus’ Call and also the article on the meaning of this call in the Church here. See also the new book on Jesus’ Call: “Hearing Jesus’ Call”.)
What I would like to deepen in this article is a possible meaning of the repentance or conversion the Lord is alluding to in his first preaching and appeal: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Mt. 4:17). In a way it is also the core and summary of the entire Gospel: “Repent and believe in the Gospel”. These words constitute, a type of “compendium of the whole Christian life.” (Paul VI, On Fast and Abstinence) The Kingdom in fact is at the heart of Jesus’ preaching. In the Our Father we actually say: “thy kingdom come” – but what kind of “repentance” or “conversion” are we called to perform?
II- The Vocabulary
Hebrew
In the Hebrew the most common verb used to express the order to “repent” is shoob (שׁוּב), as in, for example, in Ezechiel: “repent and live” (18:32) where the meaning is “to return” or to “turn back”. Of course it implies a change, leaving a style of life which is leading people astray from God and coming back to God.
To repent has the same meaning elsewhere in the Old Testament: see Hosea 3:15; 11:5; Isaiah 6:10; 10:22; Jeremiah 3:7,12,14,22; 4:1; 5:3 14t., + participle as substantive Isaiah 1:27.
The same is the case for: to turn back from evil, with מִן (especially Jeremiah, Ezekiel) 1 Kings 8:35; 13:33; Jeremiah 15:7; 18:8 8t.; Ezekiel 3:19; 13:22 12; compare שָׁבֵי פֶשַׁע Isaiah 59:20; שׁוּבוּ וְהָשִׁיבוּ מִן Ezekiel 18:30, so with מֵעַל Ezekiel 14:6; from good, with מִן, Ezekiel 3:20; Ezekiel 18:24,26; Ezekiel 33:18.
Greek
In Greek the verb used in the New Testament is Metanoeó (as in Mark 1:15: “repent, and believe in the Gospel.”): it means to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent (to feel sorry that one has done this or that, Greek Jonah 3:9), of having offended someone, Luke 17:3; 2 Corinthians 12:21; it is used especially of those who, conscious of their sins and with manifest tokens of sorrow, are intent on obtaining God’s pardon: to repent, clothed in sackcloth and besprinkled with ashes, Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13 develops this a little as it comes to mean to change one’s mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins: Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15. τό μετανοεῖν (to metanoein) further expresses mental direction as it means to withdraw or turn one’s soul from.
Latin
In Latin we have the liturgical use for repent: “Paenitemini, et credite Evangelio”. Even if to convert (used in Italian and in French) has Latin roots, it is “repent” (“paenitemini”) which is used.
Italian and French
As mentioned above, the Italian and French will use either in the New Testament or in the Liturgy: “convert” or “be converted”.
To “convert: gives a notion of turning. Turning 180 degrees from the creatures back to the creator. It is almost like a physical change of direction.
English
In English, we have “repent” almost universally used in the Bible and in the Liturgy. To “repent” is to “feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin”. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Mt. 3:2) “From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”” (4:17) “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Liturgy, Ash Wednesday).
III- Turning to God
Where is God?
To turn to God, to fully return to Him, to convert, to renounce a certain way of life and change one’s mindset and turn to God, one needs first to know where God is. “God is everywhere”, yes. But He is uncreated, so we cannot grasp hold of Him. Also, He creates and maintains alive or “in being” all that He creates. In this sense God is “present” to all that He created. Moreover, He continues to create all the time. Think of the babies who are conceived at every second in the womb of their mothers. We have 380,000 birth per day in the world! 4.5 humans are born every second. Even more to the point is the fact that the soul never dies: after death the soul continues to live for ever.
But the human being is very different from any other creature: we are created in the image and likeness of God, which means that we are God’s dwelling place. The human being is not any being. We are called to enter into a personal relationship with God himself. In a way, God is talking about himself when He says in Gen. 2: it is not good for Adam to be alone. He then searches for a helper for Adam who is similar to him. This is a very deep mystery. It will only become clearer with Jesus’ preaching and with the Apostles preaching. Thus we see that the Holy Spirit will tell us through St. Paul that the human being is God’s dwelling place, God’s Temple. The saints will tell us (while being inspired by a passage from the Old Testament) that God finds his delight in dwelling in the human being. We are His garden. We are at the heart of His desire.
Then comes the theology of Baptism which will tell us that through baptism, the human being returns to his original vocation of being the dwelling place of the Trinity. Thus, the Sermon on the Mount, which as a liturgical catechesis on Baptism, can now show us it is the Father (chapter 6) who is holding us immersed (Baptism means “being immersed”) in the Trinity, who holds us with his two hands (an image used in the early second century by Irenaeus of Lyon): the Son (chapter 5) and the Holy Spirit (chapter 7). (See a short explanation here)
From the moment of our Baptism, God dwells in us. Jesus dwells in us. The Holy Spirit dwells in us. So, as the baptised, when we say: “Where is God? Where is Jesus?”, the answer has a much more substantial dimension: He is in you. Search for Him in you. Dwell in Him, as He dwells in you (John 15). This exceedingly changes our understanding of life, or of “geography”, of “physics”, of “quantum physics”, in the sense that God is not material, is not matter. God is not in the sky, God transcends the material exterior world, He belongs to another dimension, and despite all this, we have in us a capacity (from creation and from Baptism) to have Him inside of us, deep inside of us.
So, the journey so to speak between where we are (outside of ourselves) to where He is, deep inside of us, has been inaugurated and is secure. The Church offers us a wealth of teaching from the Holy Spiritual Masters, who inspired by God, show us how to reach God, and how to dwell in Him.
Our ignorance of the truth of this reveals itself, however, as we do not know ourselves, we do not know how immense the human being is, how each human being is of the utmost value, and we almost do not know anything about our interior world. Sadly, we live in the outer world, in the material world, and the worst of it is we think we can find our happiness there.
It is not true that because at first sight we do not see this world, our Soul, and God dwelling in it, that it is non-existent. Ignorance is no excuse. The consequences are the same and are radical. It is not optional to know this immense truth: that God dwells in us, that we are an immense world, worth exploring (see article on St Teresa of Avila: Mapping Spiritual Life).
IV- General Meaning
Often in the Church we talk about the necessity of “converting” every day, i.e. having this desire to change every day and listen to God. In monastic life, this is fundamental, as it is in spiritual life. In certain circles we also talk about “Permanent Formation” or “Continuous Education”. This can be correctly taken to mean that we do not stop our formation or education as the first stages or degrees are realised, but rather we understand that in all ages and at all stages we need to have an update, a new input. Some will also suggest a sabbatical year or so. The Jesuits have it as the “second noviciate”. This refers to a period of renewal and deepening of one’s commitment to the Jesuit way of life. It typically occurs after a Jesuit has already completed his initial formation, including the first stage of the novitiate, which is a period of discernment and spiritual training lasting about two years. During the “second novitiate”, Jesuits may engage in retreats (The full month “Spiritual Exercises”), spiritual direction, and other forms of prayer and reflection aimed at renewing their commitment to their vocation, as well as discerning how best to live out their Jesuit identity in their current stage of life and ministry. It’s seen as a period of spiritual rejuvenation and recommitment to the Jesuit mission.
This spirit and desire to constantly work at renewing ourselves and our spiritual life is a very familiar concept. It has become part of our culture in many ways. In consequence we have retreats, talks and courses. However, without being aware of it, these initiatives can easily be taken for granted and the danger is that they become mere “routine” practices.
There is much talk about the presence of God in us, the indwelling of the Trinity in our heart, but we fail to grasp the full significance of what it really means and what consequences can result from it. We hear that St. Augustine, while explaining the process of his conversion in his “Confessions”, said that he was searching for God outside of himself while instead God was within him waiting for him. He searched for God in the beauty of creatures and was not paying attention to the fact that God was within him and accessible. Then St. Augustine moves into explaining the twofold movement of finding God within ourselves: first, by withdrawing into ourselves in a primary movement of introspection and secondly, by going upwards toward God. In fact it is not enough to enter into ourselves, this is only the first step in our journey to find God in us, but the second is very much needed. It reminds us of what the Lord says in Matthew 6:6: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” First – go into your room and close the door. Secondly- pray, i.e. elevate your mind and heart to God – “knock and it will be opened to you”.
“Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.” (St. Augustine, “Confessions,” Book 10, C. 27)
Yes, we all have read these texts. We take them for granted, but we do not realise to which extent they are “serious” and a real and necessary means to reach God.
Yes, we have read or heard that St. Teresa of Avila said that God is inside of us, that we are his dwelling place where He takes his delight. While teaching the “Our Father” in the “Way of Perfection”, while explaining “who art in heaven” she explained that there is a heaven inside of us, that our soul is the heaven where God dwells. She even tells us that the day she discovered this fundamental truth, her life changed, her way of praying changed: she did not have to overstretch her imagination by travelling to the Holy Land to meditate, visualise the scenes of the Gospel and find Jesus (this form of prayer tired her enormously); she could now find Jesus in her heart, dwelling in her, and she just needed to whisper so to speak to be heard by Him. She could have his company all the time. And this is what she did. It revolutionised her life. She was able to have Jesus with her all the time. She just needed to fix her gaze upon Him, love Him.…
“Consider now what your Master says next: “Who art in the Heavens.” Do you suppose it matters little what Heaven is and where you must seek your most holy Father? I assure you that for minds which wander it is of great importance not only to have a right belief about this but to try to learn it by experience, for it is one of the best ways of concentrating the mind and effecting recollection in the soul.
You know that God is everywhere; and this is a great truth, for, of course, wherever the king is, or so they say, the court is too: that is to say, wherever God is, there is Heaven. No doubt you can believe that, in any place where His Majesty is, there is fulness of glory. Remember how Saint Augustine tells us about his seeking God in many places and eventually finding Him within himself. Do you suppose it is of little importance that a soul which is often distracted should come to understand this truth and to find that, in order to speak to its Eternal Father and to take its delight in Him, it has no need to go to Heaven or to speak in a loud voice? However quietly we speak, He is so near that He will hear us: we need no wings to go in search of Him but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon Him present within us. Nor need we feel strange in the presence of so kind a Guest; we must talk to Him very humbly, as we should to our father, ask Him for things as we should ask a father, tell Him our troubles, beg Him to put them right, and yet realize that we are not worthy to be called His children.” (Way of Perfection, Chapter 28,1-2)
We have read or heard also about St. Elisabeth of the Trinity who lived her call and vocation to be the dwelling place of the Triune God. In fact, her mission, intercession and mission, is about teaching us how to find God, Jesus, in our heart.
If we had the opportunity to read about the renewal in spiritual theology which occurred during the first half of last century, we would see how the “indwelling of the Trinity in the soul of the righteous” was a fundamental teaching. The “indwelling” means that we ourselves are the “home” of God; that the entire Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — dwells in the hearts of all who are baptized and living in a state of grace.
One can have a look at: Francis Cunningham, “The Indwelling of the Trinity. A Historico-Doctrinal Study of the Theory of St. Thomas Aquinas”, The Priory Press, 1955.
However, despite all the richness therein one can still object today and say:
– “This is not my spirituality.”
– Or one can smile at it, looking down on it.
– Or object by saying: “I am an extrovert, my spirituality is different, I can’t cope with this, I need works, acts, deeds”.
– Or: “what about our brothers and sisters, and isn’t the Lord present in them”, etc.
– Or “I am a contemplative in action, these reflections are not for me, this is for pure contemplative persons”.
One can also consider “conversion” as turning away from a sinful life, or from certain sins and going back to God by behaving in a sound and moral way. In a way, “Conversion” here can be partly understood from a moral perspective, from defining what sin is according to general moral theology, according to God’s Commandments. From this perspective, a sin is a sin – nothing wrong with that – and it displeases God, and one should return to sound Christian moral life. “Conversion” here will certainly mean: examination of conscience, regretting one’s sins, and feeling some contrition and going to confession, to return to a state of grace and normal sacramental practice. All this is praiseworthy. But it is only one aspect of conversion. One is almost tempted to say that it is rather like a “John the Baptist” call to conversion other than Jesus’ call for conversion. John’s baptism is a baptism of water, a baptism of repentance. It is a preparation for meeting Jesus and his Kingdom. The latter is another dimension totally. Jesus’ Baptism is an eruption of the Holy Spirit, who establishes a direct relationship with Jesus who dwells within us. There is no contradiction whatsoever between the two, but the first is not enough to coin “conversion” as Christian. It is a preparation, a necessary preparation, absolutely needed, but only a preparation. This is why the Lord says that the smallest in his Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist: “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:28). We should not forget this. In this sense, understanding “conversion” in its Christian meaning is a necessity.
To show us the importance of both preparation and the transcendence of the Kingdom of Heaven, just cast your minds back to the rich young man, when he asks the Lord what he is supposed to do to gain eternal life (Matthew. 19:16). Jesus’ immediate response is to stipulate that: “If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments”, namely, that it was necessary to start with this, to prepare the way. But still, one more thing is lacking in order to enter the kingdom. Jesus is the king, and to enter his kingdom, much more is needed.
For this reason, and in face of such objections, it is important to check in a thorough way to see what the Gospel says about it, and then position ourselves face to face with the Gospel.
V- What does the Gospel say?
St. Matthew’s Gospel: the Kingdom
As we saw, “conversion” can be understood in different ways. In order to understand it in a Christian way I will start with the first Gospel, St. Matthew’s. He is one of the twelve Apostles, he is a first-hand witness of Jesus’ preaching and with the apostles he is the depositary of the secrets of Jesus’ kingdom: “the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you […] 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.” (Matthew 13:11-12) “blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell 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.” (Matthew 13:16-17). In his Gospel, Matthew uses the word “kingdom” no less than 48 times in 42 different passages. This, if nothing, shows the major importance and the emphasis he finds and puts on this mysterious new reality in Jesus’ message contained in his preaching.
As we saw in the quote above, the kingdom’s reality, despite the fact that it is the core of the Lord’s preaching, is not something the general public perceives and grasps: “Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand” (Matthew 13:13). Even among fervent Catholics, the notion stays vague, multifaceted and can very easily be given general explanations. We often tend to take from the Gospel what we can grasp and focus on it. Good deeds, having mercy, feeding the poor, visiting prisoners, etc. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is just an easy way to escape from the real challenge: what is this kingdom? Can I just be content with a general understanding and definition of it to get on with my Christian life? Is the kingdom something more than what we are making of it?
However, a major fact remains: Jesus talks repeatedly about “entering in the kingdom”. So, not only do we not know exactly what this new kingdom is, but we fail to even grasp what it means and implies to “enter in it”! We readily side-step the issue and find easy answers so as to avoid facing the real challenge of searching for it. Without fully realising it we start our Christian journey by putting our conscience under anaesthetic, by giving an answer to ourselves as to what the kingdom means, and we leave it there for the rest of our lives. Be on the alert though – 48 mentions in one Gospel – Matthew’s – is not something to be taken lightly! It is important, at least once or twice in a lifetime, to do a little personal research in the Gospel about this mysterious reality. A reality – the Lord endorses – that the general public do not see or hear! It is not because I am baptised, and I maintain good catholic standards, that I necessarily know about this reality and have the experience of it. At the end of the day, it is not only a matter of knowledge, but also it is a matter of experience in the sense that we need to “enter” the kingdom, during our lifetime here on earth. The king of this kingdom is Jesus. In this light Jesus’ words to the rich young man can be seen as radical: “follow me”. This categorically implies a personal relationship, as is outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“‘Great is the mystery of the faith!’ The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles’ Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father (Part Three). This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2558)
St. Matthew writes for the Jews who became Christians. His perspective in this sense is more complete and more fascinating. Constantly confronting the two Covenants, we obtain an incredible precise light which helps us to avoid reducing Christianity to a mere Judaic Christianity. That was the risk and the temptation, and it is the temptation throughout history. Hence the major importance of the Gospel of St. Matthew to help us understand what is strictly specific to Christianity when we compare it to the first Covenant.
St. Matthew, writing to Jews, wants to show that all that preceded Jesus was aimed at Jesus. And if Moses is the major figure in the First Covenant, this Covenant and Moses are only a preparation for humanity to receive Jesus, the real Covenant, and the real “Moses”.
In this sense and for this reason Matthew wants to show the continuity and the difference between the two: the preparation and the “ful-filment” in Jesus and by Jesus. The light which comes out of the dialectic movement from Old to New and from New to Old, is simply incredible and very useful.
Matthew wants to show us that Jesus is the real Moses, the realisation of the entire first covenant Prophecy and preparation, the fulfilment of God’s promises, the real Teacher, the real Legislator, the one who is not just conveying God’s words like Moses but the one who is God, who, being incarnate, sits among us in a gentle way (Moses’ way was frightening), opens his divine mouth (Matthew 5:1) and utters words unheard of, words of real immediate change and salvation, purification and enlightenment.
Moses wrote five books, the Pentateuch the first five books of the First Covenant. To show us that Jesus is the real Moses, or better said the Prophet God promised to Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18), Matthew offers us five major teachings of Jesus spread over his entire Gospel.
“15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.’” (Deuteronomy 18:15-16) Indeed the people of God feared God, feared facing God, because the way he appeared to Moses was frightening. So they said to Moses that they did not want to face God directly, fearing they could die.
“17 The Lord said to me: ‘What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth.”
This is why in St. John the Jews ask John the Baptist if he is this Prophet: “’Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.'” (John 1:21)
“He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the Prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.’ 21 You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-22)
This is a major passage from the book of Deuteronomy. Jews in the time of Jesus and the Jews Matthew is writing to were very familiar with it.
For Matthew, Jesus is the real Moses God promised as seen above, and like Moses, the considered author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the First Covenant), Jesus will give five major teachings.
The first teaching Jesus gives in St. Matthew is a major text which sets the tone for the rest of the Gospel’s teaching. It is the Magna Carta (Great Charter) of Christianity: the Sermon on the Mount.
Because of its importance, and in our search to understand the meaning of the “kingdom of heaven” and “entering the kingdom” let us focus on this major teaching (see this text also about the structure and the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount).
Circumcision of the Heart
But right before entering into the Sermon on the Mount I would like to underline a very important but implicit notion in the Gospel of St. Matthew. A person without the Old Testament background will not necessarily notice it. As we know, Baptism is a major reality in the New Testament. One is almost tempted to say that the last verses of St. Matthew are in a way the achievement and the summit of his Gospel and mysteriously they can be considered as the starting point of a second reading of his Gospel, the guideline to understanding his Gospel and more so the Sermon on the Mount:
“16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:16-20)
This is the way St. Mathew’s concludes his gospel. Three notions are underlined in this conclusion:
1- “making disciples”; 2- to baptise; 3- teach to obey everything Jesus commanded. In fact, there is a precise relationship between the three: “to baptise” (2) and “to teach to obey” (3), taken together, are the way “to make disciples” (1), (2) and (3) work together, i.e. Baptism cannot alone make of us true Christians, we need also, to allow its grace to work in us, to abide with what Jesus has taught us.
But baptism is a purification. St. John the Baptist’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, a baptism of water. It is a purification, a preparation, according to Moses’ Law (the Ten Commandments). By contrast Jesus’ baptism is a deep purification according to Jesus’ New Law.
One needs to know that one of the signs of purification in the First Covenant is circumcision. It is a visible sign of a purification according to the indication of the First Covenant’s Law. For Jews who became Christians, when looked at these differences assume a certain importance. They are invited by St. Matthew to understand that the new circumcision, the new purification brought by Jesus – a superior purification – is Baptism. But of course, it cannot be separated from the necessity to abide with the teachings of Jesus. They go together. So, implicitly, Matthew considers that the central reality of the new covenant is the circumcision of the heart. Incidentally, the notion is not new. The Old Testament mentions it. “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.” (Deuteronomy 10:16) “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6) “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn with no one to quench it.” (Jeremiah 4:4)
But for the New Testament it becomes reality because the one who is capable of purifying us, taking the heart of stone and putting a heart of flesh in its place by pouring his Spirit into our heart (See Ezekiel 36), is Jesus himself and the Redemption He realises on the Cross. Jesus’ Baptism applies the Redemption realised on the Cross to each one of us. In this sense our heart is then circumcised, i.e. purified. To show you to which extent this reality is in the mind of the Apostles, who were all Jews initially, St. Paul mentions the circumcision of the heart (See: Romans 2; Philippians 3:2; Colossians 2:11.13).
The Kingdom
As mentioned above, the reality of the Kingdom is fundamental in the Gospel, in Jesus’ Good News and teaching. We find also that in the gospel of St. Matthew the “kingdom” is very much present and often mentioned. Let us see how it is addressed.
One of the first challenging statements of the Lord in Matthew’s Gospel concerning the kingdom is this one: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Teachers of the Law (Scribes) and the Pharisees, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)
The Lord underlines two different ways of teaching and practising the Law (Moses’ Law), the one coming from the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, and the other being his. Each one offers a “righteousness”, i.e. a mode of behaviour which we think pleases God and makes us well received by Him. However, the Lord is not saying that his message is different, but that He intends to go deeper. If you cast your minds back, you will remember that the purification of the heart is at the core of Jesus’ message. He has no intention of changing the Law of Moses or of voiding it, but instead He intends to fill it to the brim, to make it reach perfection. This “new” righteousness”, is a deeper one. It does not stop short at external behaviour, but it touches matters of the heart, our heart, our inner thoughts and behaviour. Obviously, it implies the necessity of a real change at the very roots of our being – our heart. God sees the heart and not only external appearances. Jesus says: “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.'”” (Luke 16:15) It is true that this notion exists also in the Old Testament: “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'”(1 Samuel 16:7)
It must be avowed that the difference between the First Covenant and the New Covenant is immense! But paradoxically it does not go against Moses’ Law. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)
Indeed, our heart cannot escape from God’s sight. But most importantly, it embodies the truth. Our outer behaviour may say one thing while our heart may say something quite different. Isn’t it from that heart that our thoughts and behaviour proceed? “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matthew 15:18-19)
Accordingly, the main teaching of Jesus in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount encompasses this oscillating movement between the external and internal. Five times Jesus will reiterate the statements: “you have been told (by Moses)” and “I tell you”, to provide a clear comparison in five points between the initial Law given by Moses and the completion and perfection of the Law given by Jesus. Let us take one example to see how Jesus operates:
“43 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:43-47)
With these words Jesus shows us how God penetrates the heart of the human being and examines it. It is impossible for us to lie to God. In fact, we should not lie to ourselves. But this is not the issue – the issue is: how can we put this perfection of the Law into practice? Jesus is asking for the impossible! In fact, the correct way to look at this first essential part of Jesus’ Teaching is to see it not as something required by us to do out of our old hearts of stone (Ezekiel 36:16), but as something which Jesus is telling us He alone can achieve in us and through us with his Holy Spirit. He knows perfectly well that we ourselves cannot bring about the perfection He is initiating – He knows that full well. Be assured that this is not the point. More to the point is the fact that He is telling us what He can achieve with the Holy Spirit. St. Paul says that the Word of God is the sword of the Holy Spirit: “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) The Spirit is Fire (Matthew 3:11), and the Word is Fire (Jeremiah 23:29 and also: Deuteronomy 4:33).
The author of the letter to the Hebrews says that the Word of God searches the depths of the human being, reaching the very juncture between the spirit and the soul. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit work in conjunction: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
The significant point is that God wants to change our heart, He wants to give us a new heart in Baptism, a heart of flesh, in the image of Jesus’ heart, and He wants to pour his Holy Spirit into our new heart so He can move it with his love. Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is radical, as it is presupposes the deep change He causes to come about in Baptism, the giving to us of the Holy Spirit:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel36:26-27)
Once Jesus gives us a new heart in the image of his heart, He pours his Spirit into us, and we are called to be moved and guided by the Holy Spirit, in our very heart, from within our very heart. The perfection of the Law Jesus is thereby activating is the Holy Spirit in us. It is not something static or a list of commandments, it is God’s Spirit in us, guiding us, leading us, with his septiform gifts.
“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:3)
By understanding all these different elements, the new righteousness, the deep changes Jesus would like to realise in each one of us, the new heart, the Holy Spirit, we can make a start at understanding what the Kingdom He is referring to is all about.
The Kingdom is situated in our heart, where God desires fervently to reign as King. God would like to be the only one moving our heart and thoughts with his Spirit.
The Kingdom has Jesus as King as is emphasised in various ways: when Jesus acknowledges that He is king (John 18:33-37); in the fact that the Messiah is understood also as being a king; and also when people wanted to make Jesus king (John 6:14-15). Of course, He is king because He gives us a heart taken from his heart and the Spirit who is His Spirit.
The Kingdom also is the kingdom of the entire Trinity. “Blessed is the kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.” (Opening blessing in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.) So too is it the kingdom of the Father: “Our Father…. They kingdom come” (Matthew 6). Also, the Holy Spirit is called “king”: “O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who are everywhere present and fill all things, Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, Come and abide in us, And cleanse us from every impurity, And save our souls, O Good One.” (CCC 2671, Byzantine tradition)
Entering the Kingdom
Can one stay outside? Of course, we have the option of remaining outside – but we are invited to enter! It looks mysterious. Then too, we are tempted to think that the Kingdom is about our life after death. On the contrary in fact, if we take a close look at what the Lord says in the Gospel, we find that “entering” the Kingdom is something that should happen here on earth, much before dying. Another temptation is to say that it is by Baptism that we enter the Kingdom of the Trinity.
Now, the other more pertinent aspect of Matthew 5:20, is the fact that not only is the Kingdom a reality, a radically new reality Jesus wants to establish in our heart, but that one should definitively enter it.
“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Teachers of the Law (Scribes) and the Pharisees, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20) Many other passages from the Gospels allude to the fact of the necessity to “enter” the kingdom. “The Law and the prophets were until John. From that time the kingdom of Godis proclaimed, and everyone forces his way into it.” (Luke 16:16) Another way to put it is: “from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence and the violent seize it.” (Matthew11:12)
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) “Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!”” (Mark10:24) “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” (Luke 13:24) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” (Matthew 23:13)
The matter is clear: there is a necessity to enter in a “place” so to speak. There is an entrance door. There is a way forward, an effort to be made, a teaching, that can allow us to enter. Yes, we think that through baptism the deal is concluded, and we are in it. But the Gospel shows us that something more needs to be done in order to enter.
And here is the supreme teaching in this regard, using an “illustration”/ “allegory”: the image of the Kingdom as a “sheepfold”:
“1“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. […] 6 Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. 7 So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. […] 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.” (John 19:1-9)
Not only this, but the biggest danger is to remain outside of the Kingdom, in the outer darkness. In fact it seems, paradoxically, one can be “outside of the Kingdom”, in the “outer darkness” and one can be inside. The “outer darkness” could be an allusion to the human reality without salvation: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2) So our land, the land of our inner reality, is a land of darkness and the shadow of death. Were we not thrown out of the presence of God in Genesis 3 after the Fall? God is light. Sin brings darkness and distance from God. Since then we have been living in the darkness. We are accustomed to the exceedingly dim light of darkness, of being far from God. Then we reach a point where we can even begin to imagine the original Light which made us and which we are made for! In his Prologue St. John will mention this land of darkness in which we live. First, he underlines that Jesus is our light: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) Then John talks about the Incarnation, the coming of the Light into our dark land, into our life: “The Light shines in the darkness” (John 1:5) Then he talks about John the Baptist as witness to the Light in the land of darkness: “6 There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe. 8 He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.”. (John 1:6-8) Again, John goes back to talking about the Incarnation of Our Light, of our King: “9 The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him” (John 1:9-10).
So, the situation is this: Jesus is the King, He is our light. We live in darkness. He offers us his place, his kingdom and invites us to enter into it. However, there are conditions to enter. If they are not fulfilled, we will remain outside in that same darkness we have seen above, the outer darkness.
Here is how the Lord will refer to this fact when talking about the Jews who do not want to receive Him and his teaching: “But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth.”(Matthew 8:12). “the outer darkness”. The same expression will be used again when the Lord will talk about the necessity to wear the “wedding garments” (being clothed with Jesus, Jesus’ behaviour): “‘Friend, how did you enter here not having a wedding garment?’ […] Then the king said to the servants, ‘Having bound his hands and feet, cast him out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth.’” (Mattthew 22:13)
Your Inner Room
Jesus’ teaching is comprised of various aspects: the hearing, the conscience, the place from which our inner thoughts emerge and proceed and our outer behaviour. Now that in Chapter 5 of the Sermon of the Mount we have seen how Jesus wants to change our heart, now that we have seen to which extent the change goes, we can move on the Chapter 6, the chapter on God the Father.
When Jesus sets about teaching us how to pray, we who are baptised, He will offer us a new teaching regarding the Kingdom and how to enter into it:
“But you when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father, the One in secret. And your Father, the One seeing in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)
Here it seems that entering into our “inner room” is easy. Not only this but finding the Father through “prayer” seems also possible. It seems to imply that being Christian and praying “in Spirit and in Truth” means to enter into our inner room and to pray to the Father.
However, is the Father visible? Palpable? No. He is invisible: “one in secret” or “is unseen”, or “is in secret”. The plain truth is that we access God the Father, inside of us, in faith, through faith: “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:16)
In this explanation given by Jesus, then, we have new insights on the human being. In fact, Jesus reveals us to ourselves, He explains to us who the human being is. He is the light shed on us. He imparts very important information to us, namely: we can be in at least three different places:
1- in the outer darkness, in the exterior shell of our behaviour,
2- by entering into ourselves, but this introspection is not enough,
3- by accepting his invitation to close the door to outer influence, because we need a new influence, the one that comes from God. In fact, we are about to open ourselves to God’s influence:
4- by praying to the Father, whom you can access through Faith (given in Baptism but which needs to be activated, used)
5- by putting oneself under the influence of God the Father, under the influence of His Spirit. Offering yourself to Him so He can offer himself to you.
In Revelation a similar indication is to be found, using a different image: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
John the evangelist gives us yet another image: “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 4:23) Here we ourselves are the dwelling place. Through Baptism we became the dwelling place of God, of Jesus. But things do not follow as if automatically. Far from it for we need to engage personally and commit to staying in the grace of the indwelling of God in us.
Another image given by John is: “dwell in me as I dwell in you” (John 15,4). This implies that although Jesus already dwells in us through Baptism, this is not enough – we need to make the effort of being faithful to his teaching and also to offer ourselves to Him in order to dwell in Him, as so fittingly announced in the Mass: “- lift up your hearts, – we lift them up to the Lord”.
This is a spiritual teaching regarding the Kingdom and entering into the Kingdom and learning to dwell inside of the Kingdom. Since the Kingdom is a spiritual reality, however, flexibility in the use of the image is necessary. Images are a multifaceted effort to understand how to “position” ourselves. We, from our human point of view, are tempted to translate the spiritual reality of the Kingdom into our three-dimensional space. This is why we need to see, in these different images and positions, the different angles employed when trying to approach a spiritual reality that cannot be just enclosed in our three-dimensional world.
The Kingdom is a Relationship with God
In this article : “The Immersion in the Trinity” I briefly explore how the Sermon on Mount, by abiding by its teaching in Chapter 5 on the Son, in Chapter 6 on the Father and in Chapter 7 on the Holy Spirit, allows us to maintain our immersion in the Trinity received in our Baptism; allows us to be held by the two hands of the Father (the Son and the Holy Spirit) and allows us to remain in his presence contemplating his Face: “My heart said, “Seek His face.” Your face, O LORD, I will seek.”” (Psalm 26:9)
In fact, entering the Kingdom is entering into a personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. It can be envisaged thus: being held by the Father: Facing the Father, in the Son and the Holy Spirit. But of course, even if this is the most central way, it is not exclusive. One can see Jesus as the Groom and be in a personal loving relationship with Him. One can see the Groom (Jesus) and Mary (the perfect bride) and find oneself in Mary – the Holy Spirit being the love between them. Others will invoke the Holy Spirit as their Friend and deepen their relationship with Him. An entire lifetime can be passed in exploring the different facets of the Kingdom.
The Teaching on the Pharisees
The fallen human being is normally trapped in the outer world. “the LORD God banished him [the man] from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the Tree of life.”(Genesis 3:23-24) This text is very deep and describes our reality. In a way one can say that being cast out of Paradise is similar to God having pushed the human being out of his own heart, where he had been enveloped in the presence of God and having had him thrown into the outer darkness. The tragic irony of the situation is that initially the human being was living in the presence of God, in man’s very own heart.
Trapped in the outer darkness, the human being consequently tends to “look at the outward appearance” (1 Samuel 16:7) and remains trapped in it. Is it easy to enter? Is the door easy to open? One has to say that it depends. For some their heart is enclosed in such a thick shell, that it is very difficult for them to even accept that there is another world, and it is inside of them. This world is there, and very much active, but the dichotomy and the distance between the two worlds seems impossible to resolve. The outer shell, the hardening of the heart is so advanced that it seems impossible to break.
Bearing this in mind it becomes easily apparent that the focus in all the Gospels is on the Pharisees and their defects. The Lord talks extensively about them and endures great suffering because of their hardened hearts, because of their hypocrisy. What is the hypocrisy in their case? It is to have a double nature, of being two-faced: one exhibited in external behaviour and a different one manifest in internal behaviour. Their life is not unified. The question, then, is why is the Lord focusing that much on one category of persons and on their defects? When we read these passages, we could be tempted to think in an off-handed way: “oh well, these are the Pharisees, who lived in Jesus’ times!” By contrast in fact, God, in his wisdom, decided to relate this teaching on the Pharisees in the Gospel, to all times and to encompass all human beings. It is a clear sign that the issue with the Pharisees is not exclusively proper to them. Their issues are universal, because this outer and the inner world discrepancy belongs to all human beings. In this sense, we ought to think that we all have in our heart a little Pharisee who is in great need of this teaching. This should change our way of reading the Gospel, especially since there are numerous passages talking about them. We should direct the light which comes from Jesus’ Teaching on the Pharisees to ourselves in order to help ourselves penetrate to the core of our hearts more effectively, and to acknowledge the discrepancy between our outer behaviour and that of our heart. Jesus’ teaching on the Pharisees is indeed really universal and is capable of hastening a real change in us.
The shell which divides the two worlds (inner and outer) needs to be broken. Hence the solemn and powerful Chapter 23 in the Gospel of St. Matthew is entirely directed to the little Pharisee in us. When one reads this chapter, one feels the Lord is using his last and most powerful hammer to try to break the hard shell of our stubborn uncircumcised heart. With all his power He pounds away. The language He uses by today’s standards is uncomplimentary, even bordering on the offensive. Hence to say, “Woe to you”, for example, sounds as if the Lord is consigning them to Hell. Other languages similarly use such strong language, for example to describe the hypocrite’s final destiny bitter words are used: “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?” (Matthew 23:33)
Here is such a passage from Matthew Chapter 23: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
A suggestion would be to read and meditate on the entire Chapter 15 in the Gospel of St. Luke, where similar sentiments are expressed in a gentler manner.
The Parables
If we follow the general movement of Jesus’ Teaching in the Synoptical Gospels, we will find that after giving a formal teaching, He moves on into an indirect form of language: the Parables. Take for instance the Gospel of St. Matthew, where the Lord exposes his main teaching in a very solemn way and setting in the three chapters 5-7. This is where He delivers the core of his message: the Word became flesh, He sat down among us, and opened his mouth (Matthew 5:1-2) and uttered words that are Spirit, Life, Salvation, Purification. It is easy to agree with this explanatory style of St. Matthew. But starting from Chapter 13, the Lord changes his focus onto something else. Instead of simply conveying his Words to us, He shows a deep concern regarding the way we receive his word. This observation and shift is very important. The two attitudes show us that it is not enough to only believe in what Jesus says, that it is not enough to try to put his words into practice, but that it is of the utmost importance to pay careful attention to how we receive his words, how we put them into practice and to ask ourselves: are his words bearing fruits in our life?
The Parable of the Sower significantly then is not only the first and main parable Jesus tells us, but it is also the key, the entrance door, the one that sets the tone of this entire new type of teaching. Understanding this parable allows us to understand all other parables: “Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” (Mark 4:13)
This introduces us to the right track: we need to look inside of ourselves and see how we receive Jesus’ Words. Not only that but also, we should question ourselves as to whether we are bearing fruits. In fact only one soil bears fruits. This aspect should catch our attention.
Summing up the input of the Parables, especially the parable of the Sower, one has to say that attention needs to be focused on the way we receive the Word.
Where is the Kingdom?
There is a classic passage regarding the Kingdom in the Gospel of St. Luke: “20 When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21 Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”” (Luke 17:20-21)
“When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come”, it should be noted that the question is asked from a materialistic understanding of the messianic times and the messiah king and his kingdom. Even the disciples, the day of his Ascension into heaven, ask him a similar question: “Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) This shows the immense difficulty of understanding the inner reality and the correct meaning of the Gospel. And here we have the Lord’s reply: “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21 Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”” (Luke 17:20-21) Other translations enlarge further on the interiority by saying: “the kingdom of God is within”, i.e. inside of the human being, in the heart.
We can see that since the kingdom is inside of us, in our heart, we can gain access to it only by the grace of God.
VI- Is Interiority Optional?
A parable is a parable, plus, the Word of God does not belong to us. Its interpretation follows essential rules but allows much leeway to find in the Scriptures the guide which will follow us and guide us in our growth, and which will adapt itself to our real needs. In this sense, the Parable of the Sower is no exception. It has multiple and versatile readings. If they all respect the letter without twisting it and respect our Faith, then one needs to keep an open mind.
It follows then that one can read the Parable of the Sower as a journey into the inner kingdom, leading us to the deepest part of our heart, resembling to a small degree what we saw above with the Lord’s indication given in Matthew 6:6. In this sense each soil we meet on our journey of introspection is a real step ahead. Let us examine the parable closely.
The first soil can be considered as the outer shell of our heart, the one we mentioned above. If the person keeps this shell as it is, living resolutely in the “outer darkness”, it is impossible to hear what the Lord says, the language of the parable remaining mysterious and difficult to decipher: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” (Matthew 13:13) Here the language of parables is a protection. The Lord is not throwing pearls to swine (see Matthew 7:6). The real reason for this is that “this people’s heart has grown callous” (Matthew 13:15). They are outside, in the outer darkness: “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables” (Mark 4:11) – yes, “to those on the outside”!!
Now let us suppose that the person wants to “convert” (to turn toward God). By contrast, this person will look inwardly, with no pretence and acknowledge the great discrepancy between the inner side of the cup and the outer one. Deep down, however, what is the real meaning of this “conversion”? It means that one is resolved to get to grips with one’s interior dispositions. The person can of course use all the tools available and the most powerful one is to direct Jesus’ Teaching on the Pharisees to the “inner Pharisee”. Conversion here is a turning away from the outer darkness, the outer world and an entering into oneself to see “on the inside” [how it is] “full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity” (Matthew 23:27).
This article is all about “converting”; it is about finding the right thing to do, especially if we are in the sacred season of Lent. Converting means changing. It means turning toward God. But now, this “conversion”, this “turning toward God” is morphing into a much more precise indication of the “work” to be undertaken or the “effort” to be made.
The first soil in sum shows how the outer shell of the heart is hard and totally closed, as a soil of that kind can be:
“When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.” (Matthew 13:19)
“And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.” (Mark 4:15)
“Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12)
What one readily notices is the mention of the devil. Who is the “Prince of this world” (for the use of this expression see John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11)? Who is the prince of the outer world? The one who played a fundamental role in alluring Adam and Eve to his world? The Devil, Satan. We say in the Our Father: “Deliver us from the Evil one”, which also means keep us inside your Kingdom, prevent us from leaving, from going into the outer darkness where the Devil reigns! It is really a battle between two reigns, two kings or princes: Jesus’ one and Satan’s one. This is why in baptism we reject this kingdom and chose resolutely to enter the kingdom and have Jesus as our king.
It is interesting to see how the Our Father is totally interiorised: not only does the Lord, through Matthew 6:6, invite us to enter into ourselves and find God the Father inside of us, not only does He invite us to stay under his auspices, but He teaches us when we pray to say: “thy kingdom come” and also “deliver us from the Evil one”.
Of course, this does not mean that the Devil will leave us in peace once we enter the Kingdom. The journey remains a long one We have two difficult stages to undergo before reaching “The Good Soil”, the only one which bears fruits.
So let us turn inwardly. But is this a grace we receive? Let us crack open this hard shell and see what Jesus says about our inner world. Can this be brought about through our own efforts? Do we need to wait for a special grace to be “converted”, i.e. to turn inwardly to God who is present inside of us?
Indeed we do. The Lord himself explains to us the necessity of having the will, the desire to turn inwardly and aim for the Kingdom. He gives us the general help of his Grace and insists: “ask and you will receive”, “knock at the door and it will be opened”. We absolutely need to do this in order to enter! We need his intervention, but we can still ask – as creature to Creator. Plus, He desires us to ask and knock with all our heart: “seek first the kingdom of God [who is inside of you]” but seek it with all your heart, don’t let any worry or concern (about leaving the kingdom of the world, the kingdom of the devil) prevent you. I am in charge of the rest: “all the rest will be given to you on top” (see Matthew 6:33). This request has to be made with all your strength, as the first commandment says: “you shall love God with all your energy and strength”, with full determination, and the Lord is not shy of adding: with violence. “The Law and the prophets were until John. From that time the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone forces his way into it.” (Luke 16:16) “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence and the violent seize it.” (Matthew11:12).
The Lord did not say: seek the kingdom and seek the rest also because it is necessary. Far from it, He said: seek the kingdom first and only this. Don’t worry about the rest, “the Father knows it”. “When you pray” put all your energy into the “coming of the kingdom in you”: “thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6).
This purity of the heart is not optional in the Gospel. It is the real condition of entry into the Kingdom.
“Lord give me the determination to put you above everything else. Lord give me the trust in you, in your word that you take care of me. Lord give me the clarity to understand that the only thing you can’t do in me is chose to ask for the kingdom. You can’t force my will. You can attract me, allure me, inspire me, but you can’t force me to ask. You help me, give me the determination to ask, insist and be bold. Give me the detachment not to worry about “the rest”, “all these things”.”
“seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
“Convert me Lord, turn me toward you. Help me focus on your presence in me. Open my eyes to your presence. Lord…”
At the beginning of the holy season of Lent the Priest traced a Cross on my forehead signing the beginning of a powerful journey toward God. He said: “convert”, “turn inwardly to the kingdom inside of you”. He was saying: God is inside of you, search for Him, search for Him with all your heart. “Convert” …
Free me O Lord from the outer world, from its concerns, from worries. Teach me to search for you and find you.”
Interiority is not optional. The inward journey to the kingdom of God is for everyone. It can be experienced with some differences, but the core stays valid for each one of us.
VII- Second Step: Lack of Depth
After having broken the hard outer shell, we need to persevere. A big challenge. We do not yet have good new habits. It takes effort to persevere in this new search and not surrender with any obstacle. We have received the good news of God who is inside of us, we have started to experience this new freedom, this new journey. But still many of us are not used to this new style of life, this new set of beliefs. We do struggle. The Old Man in us still dominates all the space, which makes us feel it to be difficult and odd. We have entered within but are still using the methods of the Old Man, trying to change and adopt a new way of living, activating Faith in God who dwells inside of us and Hoping to reach union with Him at the “bottom” of our being. We are just starting to learn to listen to his word, but we are weak. We are still tempted to look without, to fear, to keep to our old habits.
Persevering in the new habits, acquiring stable new habits is real spiritual warfare.
When the Lord asked Abraham to leave his country and tribe it was not to imply he could turn back again: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) Do we have any comfort in this early part of the journey? Can we lean on anything that is not Faith, Hope and Charity? We might have some signs, miracles and consolations but we need to learn to lean on Faith only which leads us to God who resides at the bottom of our heart. “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” 59 Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:58-60)
VIII- Third Step: Worries
The generous but divided heart.
| Matthew 13 | Mark 4 | Luke 8 |
| “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew upand choked the plants.” (Mt 13:7) | “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew upand choked the seedlings,and they yielded no crop.” (Mk 4:7) | “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with itand choked the plants.” (Lk 8:7) |
| “The seed falling among the thorns refers tosomeone who hears the word, but– the worries of this life and– the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word,making it unfruitful.” (Mt 13:22) | “Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns.They hear the word, 19 but:– the worries of this life,– the deceitfulness of wealth,– and the desire for other things come inand choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mk 4:18) | “The seed that fell among thorns stands forthose who hear,but as they go on their way they are choked by– life’s worries,– riches and– pleasures,and they do not mature.” (Lk 8:14) |
Through our perseverance some contact with the Word of God has been established, and there is growth. There is no doubt about that. But the heart is divided. The heart is torn between three tendencies on the one hand and on the other hand God himself. God has invited us to love Him with all our heart, and here the heart is divided, absorbed by three things: the worries of this life, the deception of wealth, and the desire for other things.
If God is in our heart, the main message is the pearl of great price: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46) To find the pearl and keep the pearl, all the energy of our heart needs to be focused on it, dedicated to it. In this sense all that might occupy our mind and heart needs to be “sold”. Another piece of advice is given by the Lord to teach us to seek the Kingdom, to place it firmly above everything else and think of nothing else, trusting that God will provide the rest! “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44) What clearly stands out is that the price of buying the field is “all that he had”! Yes, if we give everything, He gives everything.
This does not mean that we need to leave this world and flee to the desert or enter a monastery. No. It means that with the will, we detach ourselves. See what St. Paul says: “I would like you to be free from concern”, i.e. from worries. From attachments.
“What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. I would like you to be free from concern.” (1 Corinthians 7:29-32)
St. John of the Cross, too, when he talks about the necessary detachment to reach God within us, says that the detachment has to happen mainly in the will. One can physically possess things, but in his will he does not necessarily have to be attached. Indeed, he can renew the total gift of what he possesses to God. This is purity of heart and poverty of spirit.
Ironically one can be perfectly Christian doing many things for God, but his heart may not be totally given to God, he might not be fully detached from certain things. The inward descent then comes to a stop being clogged up with obstacles.
Let there be no doubt – purity of heart is not optional.
In this light one can say one loves his neighbour spiritually but still in an imperfect way (see St. Teresa of Avila, “Way of Perfection”). His preferences in loving his neighbour interfere with the way he loves. The way he commits to search for God through love of neighbour is not totally pure. He is still “holding” things in his hands, “possessing” them.
As one can easily see, the effects on this soil is growth indeed, but a growth which will never reach completion and bear fruits. This is where many “good Christians” fall. There is growth, there is service of the Lord, there is commitment for the Lord, but still the heart is not totally given to the Lord. It is consoling to know that St. Teresa of Avila spent almost twenty years in such a state. She was a good nun, a spiritual person, talking about God, serving Him, praying daily contemplative prayer, etc. But her heart was not totally given to Jesus. She was blocking the grace of God from being poured into her heart. Her journey was at a halt despite her incredible qualities and commitment!
IX- What Can We do in a Practical Way?
Now one can ask what can I do? I need to convert, I need to turn to God who dwells in me, but how can I do this?
First and foremost, it is important to break the flow of the grip on external matters in one fell swoop. To take time. Yes, we all have busy schedules but, just think, for very important matters, for emergency calls, we know how to prioritise. “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26), so we must learn to pause, and take time, as we do for resting, for holidays or when we are sick.
In order to learn to pause and take time to pay attention to the most important thing in our life, God, our spiritual health, one of the Desert Fathers asked the Lord to help him as we shall read below.
Abba Arsenius, at some point in the desert, addressed this fervent prayer to God: “Lord, lead me in the way of salvation.” The answer he got was: “Fuge, tace, quiesce” (Flee, be silent, rest/quietude), that is, flee noise, the flow of business, interference. Seek outer silence, but also inner silence (thoughts, worries,..). This increases the quality of our attention to God. “quiesce” is the most difficult one to interpret. On one hand it means literally “rest”, do not move, stay calm, but on the other, since the “work of salvation” is something spiritual, it opens us up to God’s presence, to a new intervention from God.
Similarly, for Teresa of Avila, the first piece of advice she gives when we want to enter into prayer and walk the spiritual journey, is to work on humility and consideration for God. Humility is vital. It is also the same advice given by St. Augustine, when he tried to see what philosophers, the philosophers of his time or even before, lacked, if he compared them with Christianity, humility. He admired God’s humility when He chose to become incarnate, to draw closer to us and to live as we do, but he also understood that since we need faith in order to draw closer to God, he even more clearly saw how humility is the foundation of the Act of Faith – because humility acknowledges the Truth, the Truth of who we are and of who God is!
Consideration on the other hand can be compared to focus, but also attention, along the lines of humility: acknowledging in whose presence we are, that is, God’s.
When Teresa of Avila explains prayer, the first form she offers us is “recollection”, which is how to draw closer to God, how to recollect our mind and thoughts and draw closer with a movement of love toward God. She invites us to fix our gaze upon Jesus. She herself had gazed upon Him, discovered his multifaceted divine beauty, and was attracted by Him. That was a constant in her new life, after her second conversion. A practical suggestion would be to either read or to follow a course (“Solid Foundations”) to learn how to draw closer to God who dwells in us. It is a very rich and vital teaching.
The result now is that when we hear the priest wanting to help us start Lent, when we hear the equivalent of “convert”, “turn to God”, we know now where to find God. He is in us. We are a living Tabernacle.
X- The Good Soil
As yet we have not discussed the “The Good Soil” of the Parable of the Sower. The text reminds us: “And others fell upon the good soil and were yielding fruit—indeed some a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.” (Matthew 13:8). The evangelist, in his explanation of the parable, shows the Lord commenting on “The Good Soil”: “But the one having been sown on the good soil, this is the one hearing the word and understanding, who indeed brings forth fruit and produces—indeed, some a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.”” (Matthew 13:23) Not all the translations give us the expression “the good soil”, some say “on good soil”. Instead, the use of the definite article “the” is very important. Indeed, Living Tradition, acknowledges in the Liturgy and in Theology that “the Good Soil” is simply Mary, Jesus’ Mother who received the Divine Seed, the Word of God and bore fruits for all.
This subtle light which we find here and there in some texts sheds an amazing light on Jesus’ teaching, it opens an incredible avenue which needs to be explored in our reading of the Gospel (see the Course on St. Luke and the article or book on St. Luke’s Final Pentecost). In fact the Gospel of St. Luke will take this light and consider it as the golden thread of his Gospel, showing us how only Mary was able to believe (see Luke 1), how Zachariah was not able to do so, and that Mary believed not only for her, but for Zachariah, Elisabeth and each one of us. Elisabeth, moved by the Holy Spirit proclaimed this truth out loud: “blessed is the one having believed that there will be a fulfilment to the things spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:43). This truth is underlined also by the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The Virgin Mary “cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation” (LG 56). She uttered her “yes” “in the name of all human nature” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica III, 30, 1). By her obedience she became the new Eve, mother of the living (Cf. Lumen Gentium 56; 61).” (CCC 512)
Another very important point to notice is that The Good Soil, Mary, is the only soil among the three, capable of bearing fruits, whereas, in fact, the meaning of our life here on earth is precisely to “bear fruits” for God, fruits which will remain in eternal life. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16) Obviously bearing fruits is intrinsic to a “successful” Christian life. How come, then, do we not pay enough attention to the fact that none of the first stages of our descent bears fruit? On the contrary one has to continue to dig deep until he or she has crossed the line of bearing fruit, thereby reaching “The Good Soil” who will help bear fruits.
In fact, this stage is a very important stage in spiritual life, where, at a certain point, upon realising our utter failure to follow the Lord by our own efforts and means, we are led by Him to His mother, to discover completely new dimensions about her and her place in our Christian life when Jesus proclaims: “here is your mother” (John 19:). (This is explained in the second lesson of Solid Foundations, “Mary in our spiritual life” a and Second part b, see also Handout).
Note: Blessed Father Marie Eugene, in his book, “I Want to See God” and “I am a Daughter of the Church” questions his own choice of talking about Our Lady only when he started to address the dark night of the spirit. It shows that the perception of the necessity of Our Lady in our spiritual life is not something that we perceive immediately. It takes time.
Now, in our journey of descent within ourselves to reach the depth of our own “well”, we are heading toward God who is at the core of our being… the infinite abyss of our being. On our journey, we discover that we are not only supposed to find God, but also the divine way to deal with Him, Mary filled with the Holy Spirit. Mary’s way is divine. Her way to know and love God is divine, we cannot understand it, but it has been given to us. (See the first articles here)
It is an incredible turn of events to discover that the perfection of Mary is simply given to us. St. Therese says: “don’t the virtues of the Mother belong to her child?” Convert, turn to God who will lead us to this amazing discovery, Mary within us. One can wonder: is this possible? Well, in Baptism we received Mary: the capacity to embrace the Trinity and be embraced by the Trinity. In this very sacrament we asked to receive all the necessary virtues, as is verified by what the theology of Baptism says: Faith, Hope Charity are given to us. Is it a secret to say that it is Mary’s Faith, Mary’s Hope, Mary’s Charity that we are given? Definitely not for Mary believed for us, it is she who gives us her perfect faith! What a gift from God. Convert, turn to God, discover God’s Gift for you!
What a discovery we make in this descent into ourselves – to find the full Kingdom of God in us. Heaven in us. Thank you Lord for this… for this journey you opened up for us, in us. Hebrews 10:20 talks about the “new way” Jesus inaugurated for us to reach the Holy of the Holies… in the Holy of the Holies where we discover the Ark of the Covenant, Mary, in us, the Ark bearing not the two tables of the Law, but the Law itself, the Word and the Spirit.
Let us then use Mary’s eyes and Mary’s heart to know and love Jesus. At the core of our being, at the very deepest part of our being.
Thank you Lord for reminding us every year, every Ash Wednesday, with a cross traced on our forehead, that we need to “turn to you”… that we need to convert, from searching for you outside while you are inside of us waiting… patiently waiting.
XI- Conclusion
For me, the following is a real discovery: the Parable of the Sower is the Parable of the inner world, of the heart that needs to be purified. The parable, in Matthew 13, signals a shift but here the shift is the entrance into the heart.
It may seem evident for many of us to see the parable in this way. It is even more obvious if we read Origen commenting on St. Matthew’s Gospel at the end of his life. But for me, teaching in parables is a new phase in Jesus’ method of teaching in the Gospel of St. Matthew (and in the others too), which in my eyes now is much more accentuated by going directly and with determination toward the inner world, our heart, where the Kingdom, God himself dwells at the very depths and abyss of our being. The Parable of the Sower becomes the entrance into the world within.
In Mark 7:18 the Lord says : “Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)” Not that this is about a parable: “After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.” (7:17)
What do we need to understand? The answer is easy and straight forward – it is only what comes out of the heart that makes us impure. What a vivid way to express that the heart is important! Paying attention to our heart, therefore, becomes fundamental.
Interestingly, it is the same exclamation the Lord utters in the first parable, the Parable of the Sower: “Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?”” (Mark 4:13) Both are parables. Can it be that the language of the Parables is essentially dedicated to the distinction between the inner and outer world? I am now very much inclined to think that is so. What we need to understand in both these cases is the same: there is an inner world, and we need to pay attention to it.
“Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 10 As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable. 11 He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables, 12 so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’” 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?” (Mark 4:9-13)
It is not only a question the Lord is asking to attract our attention (“Do you not understand this parable?”), it is also an observation he is making to explain the reason why in general “he talks in parables”. He had already established that all the parables have a common denominator presented in the parable of the Sower: “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?” (Mark 4:13)
“The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables” (Mark 4:11) Note the “those on the outside”. Let us note the internal coherence in the language of the parables: the teaching is specifically for the ones who have entered within themselves, that is, not remained “outside”. The object of this key parable, the Parable of the Sower is then entering within, how to enter within. It is a four-step journey in the depths of the human being.
To sum up, then, in Matthew 13:15, in the Parable of the Sower, the move from the outer world to the inner world occurs through a “conversion”: “and turn (convert), and I would heal them”. To turn to God, to convert (daily conversion) is to change direction, to abandon the outer world and aim toward the Lord in the place where He really dwells, i.e. within. Conversion is to turn toward Him. For Luke, as we have seen above, the Kingdom is within (Luke 17:21) so that the Lord can say: “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you” (Mark 4:11), which means: to you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God because you are looking inwardly to find it in you, because you aim towards the presence of Christ within you, and search for the Kingdom of God within you, because you are finding it only within yourself. Also, you must “seek first (with all your heart) the Kingdom of God (who is inside of you) above anything else, and all the rest (which can be found outside) will be given to unto you” (for it is God who is in charge of it). (Matthew6:33). To seek God in your depths depends on you, using the general help of the Grace of God.
“Seek first the kingdom…” (Matthew 6:33). Who would have thought that seeking the Kingdom of God meant finding it in ourselves? It is true that once it is said, this looks more than obvious! Who would have thought that the Lord in his Gospel is inviting us to enter within ourselves to find Him? Who would have thought that the new phase of the Lord’s preaching, inaugurated by the language of the Parables was in fact an entering into oneself to find Him? Who would have thought that He is present there – the Risen Lord – and that He has not forsaken us, and that through Baptism He dwells in the depths of our being, that it is we who are “God’s Temple”?
In this sense, the distinction between that which is within and that which is without and the dynamics which exists between them (like the fact of having to enter within), seems to be at the heart of the Parable of the Sower! Thus it is easy to see that the “soil” in the parable corresponds to the human “heart”. The Kingdom and its mysteries are then to be found in the heart of the human being, for it is Jesus who dwells in our depths, in our heart. The Parable of the Sower is then a journey or a way, offered to us, from the outer darkness to the centre of our heart.
As a first step, we need to renounce to the outer world, i.e. renounce finding Jesus in the outer world and aim to find Him at the centre of our being (as St. Augustine said). We can say – and this is valid from St. Matthew’s Gospel – that one of the fundamental though implicit points of the Gospel of Matthew’s teaching is not only the “circumcision of the heart” but also the seeking of Christ within: “enter within, in your inner room, close the door, and seek him within” (see Matthew6:6).
This teaching becomes more dense because it is being given in parables in Matthew 13. This stresses the necessity for greater intensity as we proceed. It is a way or a journey made of four steps (the four soils) that the Lord is offering us in this more resolute teaching. It is a way that leads to The Good Soil, Mary. It is only in this way that we can bear fruits. Mary is necessary because she alone bears fruits, and it is only through her, after having crossed the abyss between the third soil and the fourth, The Good Soil, that we can start to bear fruits.
Of course, as we have seen above, we will first need to pierce the hard skin of the heart (of the soil). This is the difficulty, or rather the obstacle which the first soil faces. It is a hardened soil, closed to the divine Seed, a hard skin which prevents the Seed from entering. The Seed, here, cannot enter into our heart. Through the first soil, however, we still have a clear indication, a sign that the Lord is giving us: we are outside, we need to enter! Otherwise, we become part of the ones who are in the “outer darkness”. Those in the outer darkness are not reached by the divine Seed, they are not touched by Jesus’ Words. His words seem mysterious, incomprehensible, and they stay like this. “This people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.” (Matthew 13:15) The Word can’t penetrate. They hear the sound, but they do not understand. They see the sign, but they fail to “get it”. Because, to understand, one has to be already within, one has to have been “converted”, i.e. turned toward the One who lives within us, and have refrained from acting like foreigners in a foreign land. The heart needs first to be touched so we can understand. This is the celebrated first “wound” the Beloved (Jesus) wounded us with that St. John of the Cross talks about in the first stanza of the “Spiritual Canticle”: “Where have You hidden, Beloved, and left me moaning? You fled like the stag After wounding me; I went out calling You, and You were gone.” Something needs to break – to wound – the “hard skin” of the soil, of the heart.
Reflections: it seems to me that we all – or almost all – have a hard skin, our heart is more or less hardened, and that we are in need of the grace of God. Is a John the Baptist enough to prepare the way, flatten it, break the skin, the mould? Do hard circumstances in our life, mysteriously providential, prepare our heart? Like in the case of Abraham, the fact of leaving his country and his people? Like Abraham having to detach himself from the dearest person on earth – his son? Like the people of God who had to grow and labour in Egypt and go through hardships? These circumstances do plough the earth, open it, with “blades of steel”, to receive the Seed, and start to create a space in us to receive the Seed, to seek it, to find it in the depths of our being.
The essence of this text can now be seen to be that the divided heart cannot progress – it cannot under any circumstances be divided between the Lord and “other things”.
Jean Khoury
4th March 2024
Feast of Bl. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus OCD.