Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Matthew 13: 10-17
July 24, 2025 | Thursday

Today’s Gospel

Then his disciples came to him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people. For the one who has will be given more; and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has. That is why I speak to them in parables; because they look and do not see; they hear; but they do not listen or understand.

In them, the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled: However much you hear, you do not understand; however much you see, you do not perceive.

For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back, and I would heal them.

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For I tell you, many prophets and righteous people have longed to see the things you see, but they did not see them; and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear them.

Today’s Reflection

A parable is a short, succinct, and simple story that teaches a religious or moral principle or lesson. When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke to the crowd in parables, Jesus replied, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. . . because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.”

It is a truism that we often see things not as they are but as we are. While we use our senses to acquire knowledge or information about the world around us, our interpretation or impression of the sensations we have received could vary from person to person. We ascertain, appreciate, and adjudge what we see or hear from the prism of our personal perception, proficiency, or prejudices. Each of us is the product of our individual nature and nurture, resulting in differences in our values, philosophy, ideology, and outlook in life. This is why people could have divergent views or opinions on the same event or happening.

How blessed are we to know Jesus personally, learn the Good News, understand His redemptive sacrifice for our salvation, and appreciate the gifts of love, peace, and joy that He offers us. We had been endowed with the gift of faith, which gave us the means to view events and things in the light of God’s eternal word and not from fleeting earthly values and standards. It has become our guide in everything we think, say, or do. Our task as Christians is to bring others to Christ so they, too, may receive His graces. Let us continue to spread the Word to the world as we pray that their hearts and minds be opened to God’s truth so they will act according to it.

/Vulnerasti, 2025