Those who have ears ought to hear

Prayer for the Day

"Lord, faith in Your word is the way to wisdom, and to ponder Your divine plan is to grow in the truth.  Open my eyes to Your deeds and my ears to the sound of Your call, that I may understand Your will for my life and live according to it".

Reflection

Well, it’s the 3^rd Tuesday of the month, so that meant another meeting of all the General Managers to get us ready for the end of the month business.  We call them “End of Month Meetings” or “EOM”.  Sometimes they are fun, sometimes they are boring; but they are ALWAYS longer than they need to be, so I am exhausted when they are over.  I did not have any inclination to post tonight, but after reading tomorrow’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-9), I laughed because it brought to my mind something that was said at the meeting today.

One of the topics we discussed was our customer review program.  It is a program that allows our customers to evaluate the service they received from us and post that evaluation on the internet for other customers to see.  We, as managers, then use these evaluations and comments to address problems before they get out of hand.  A lot of the GMs don’t take the critical comments well, and make excuses for their teams’ poor service (as perceived by the customer).   This is not the objective of the reviews.  The objective is to “get into the mind of the customer” and give him what he is asking for.

What I thought was funny about today’s presentation on this topic is that the CEO added a couple of sentences to his normal directive:  “Some of you are LISTENING, but you’re not HEARING.  And even if you’re hearing, you’re failing to ACT!”

Jesus' teaching method was a very simple one.  He used parables – short stories and images taken from everyday life to convey hidden truths about the kingdom of God. Like a skillful artist, Jesus painted evocative pictures with short and simple words. A good image can speak more loudly and clearly than many words. Jesus used the ordinary everyday to point to another order of reality – hidden, yet visible to those who had "eyes to see" and "ears to hear". Jesus communicated with pictures and stories, vivid illustrations which captured the imaginations of His audience more powerfully than an abstract presentation could. His parables are like “buried treasure waiting to be discovered” (Matt. 13:44).

Jesus' parable of the sower is aimed at the hearers of His word. There are different ways of accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly.  There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to what he or she doesn't want to hear. Then there is the shallow hearer. He or she fails to think things out or think them through; they lack depth. They may initially respond with an emotional reaction; but when it wears off their mind wanders to something else.  Another type of hearer is the person who has many interests or cares, but who lacks the ability to hear or comprehend what is truly important; such a person is forever too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God's word.  He or she may work so hard that they are too tired to even think of anything else but their work.  Then there is the one whose mind is open.  Such a person is at all times willing to LISTEN, to HEAR, to learn, and to ACT on that learning. He or she is never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen in order to understand. God gives grace to those who hunger for His word that they may understand His will and have the strength to live and act according to it.

I wonder if the CEO read tomorrow’s Gospel to help him prepare his meeting notes!