Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest
Why does God have to be so mysterious? Sometimes, in life, we want the certainty of knowledge. We want to know that God exists concretely. Why can’t God just rend the heavens and come down and show himself to us again? He did that 2,000 years ago, but I wasn’t around to see it. I missed out, so can he just return for an encore just to ensure this generation gets it? Jesus, in today’s Gospel (Luke 8: 4-15), says to his disciples, “Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.” Why does He have to make things so complicated?
It is evident in this Gospel reading that the disciples also weren’t fully aware of what the parable was about. That’s why Jesus had to explain it to them. But, this desire is a natural human when it comes to the more significant questions about God, the universe, and our purpose. It would be great if we could skip the journey and just get to the end of the movie. We want the happily ever after part. We want to know where this story ends without reading the book. Yet, Jesus gives us stories to illustrate the mysteries of God because God is, first of all, beyond our comprehension, but also because stories matter. Narratives give our lives direction, focus, and vitality that mere factual knowledge does not. God could come down and tell us the facts, but then what? What would life be with just factual knowledge and no mystery? There’s a grace, I think, in entering into the search for God rather than just knowing the answers. Let’s pray that we may walk with Jesus to have our eyes and ears opened today to how God is working in our lives to love us.