God’s visitation necessarily changes us. The intent, of course, is that God’s visitation will transform us and bring us life, as the imagery in today’s first reading from Isaiah illustrates: Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water; The abode where jackals lurk will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus. Similarly, the paralyzed man and his friends are transformed by their encounter with Jesus in the Gospel: their sins are forgiven, and the paralyzed man walks home.
But the scribes and the Pharisees in today’s Gospel illustrate another possibility: that we can also harden our hearts in response to God’s visitation. When the Lord visits us in a way that unsettles us, in a way that doesn’t fit our preconceptions of God or our plan for life, it is tempting to reject the visitation of God.
Today, let us reflect on the ways that God’s visitations have already changed us. And let’s pray for the grace to receive God’s visitations—whatever form they may take—with openness and joy, willing to be changed by his love, even in ways we do not expect.