Gospel of the Day
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 13:10–17
And his disciples came and said to him:
“Why speakest thou to them in parables?”
He answered and said to them:
“Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: but to them it is not given. For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound: but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away that also which he hath.
Therefore do I speak to them in parables: because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled in them, who saith: ‘By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand: and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For, amen I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them: and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Logic of the World or of God?
What happens when we don’t understand our spouse?
We end up just like in the Gospel: “seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
We know the logic of the world often contradicts the logic of God. But we are children of God, and so we are called to use His logic — to listen, to speak, and to truly understand our spouse.
The Lord grants to His friends the grace to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. But this requires a desire to be close to Him, to know Him, to deepen our relationship with Him.
The same is true in our marriage. Our spouse desires to be truly known — and that calls us to will to love, to desire to know, and to deepen our bond (especially through praying together).
When we begin to see the world through God’s eyes, we receive that supernatural vision in which our virtues help us to “know the secrets of the Kingdom” — and to know our spouse more deeply and lovingly too.
Applied to Married Life
Judit: Lately, every time I tell you something, it’s like I’m speaking Chinese…
Bernat: Darling, I’m sorry — I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me or what I’m supposed to read between the lines. It’s not that you’re speaking Chinese, but deciphering you has become difficult…
Judit: It’s true that lately we’ve been really stressed with work, the kids’ summer camps, house-hunting… We’re both exhausted by the end of the day and we haven’t been praying together at night.
Bernat: Since our schedule has shifted these days, how about we do our couple prayer in the morning instead of evening? If not, we know it’s not going to happen. What if we woke up 30 minutes earlier to do it?
Judit: You really do have the gift of organisation! It’ll be tough at first, but it’s totally worth it. Otherwise, we both know how this summer will go… Every summer ends up being a spiritual winter, and that can’t keep happening. Actually — what if we try going to weekday Mass together too?
Bernat: I start later on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we could go together at 8am to start the day with the Lord.
Judit: I love you so much! Thank you for taking care of us and protecting our marriage by strengthening our relationship with the Lord.
Bernat: I love you more!
Mother,
We ask you to help us un-harden our hearts — so we may see, hear, and understand… as you do.
Glory to the Lord who enables us to learn from His logic.