Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 Matthew 13:10-17 

By Father Peter Latouf

There was a movie that I put on when I was traveling–I don’t remember from where to where–but the movie I put on was called Big Fish. You might remember it from a little while ago. It was about a boy–a young man. As he grew up, he would tell a lot of fantasy stories that his dad used to tell him when he was younger. 

In one of the stories in the movie, the young man talked about a time when he was a little boy and he was out fishing with his grandfather. They sat there for an hour or so, trying to catch something, but they didn’t catch anything. Finally, the boy looked over at the grandfather and said, “I think the fish went out to lunch.” And the grandfather said, “No, no, there’s still fish under there.” The boy said, “Then how come they aren’t biting?” And the grandfather said, “Well, there’s a difference between looking at the water and understanding what’s going on underneath it.” 

I like that story because it’s about a lot more than just fishing, right? Two people can look at the same thing, but see something completely different. It’s true. And that’s what Jesus is talking about when the disciples asked: Why does Jesus talk in parables? And it’s true. It’s a good question. Why doesn’t Jesus just come out and explain everything directly and as clearly possible? Wouldn’t that have made things a little bit easier? But  the more you read the Gospels, I think the more you realize that the Parables weren’t meant to hide the truth. They were made to make the people think. Jesus wanted the people to think, and if you look at all the Parables, they do just that, right? 

Like the Good Samaritan. You can hear it as a nice story about how it is important for us to help people…or you can realize that there is much more happening in that story. It’s not just about somebody helping somebody. It’s about a Samaritan, a member of the group of people that the Jews looked down on. Suddenly, the story is not very comfortable. There’s a lot of meaning in that. 

Or like the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In this one, you know that it’s easier to focus on the younger son who leaves home and asks for forgiveness and comes back. But as we really look at the parable, we realize that the older son in the parable has a lot going on, too. He has his own problems, and the story ends without even telling us if he goes into his brother’s celebration. Jesus leaves the ending hanging in a lot of these parables. It’s kind of like he’s asking, “Well, what would you do if you were in this situation?” 

That’s the way the parables work. They invite the listeners in to find all the layers and all the different things Jesus is teaching. They make us wrestle with that. And that’s why some people walked away from Jesus unchanged and confused, while others had their lives completely turned around. The difference wasn’t that Jesus explained it better to one group or another. It’s just that: Were the people willing to listen? Sometimes yes; sometimes no.  

Just like how God told Israel in the reading from Jeremiah this morning. God said, “I brought you into a fertile land but you defiled my land. The priest did not ask, ‘Where is my Lord?’” (Jeremiah 2:7-8) And that was the problem. The priests were still the priests, but the people stopped asking the question, “Where is the Lord here? Where is God in all of this?” That’s a dangerous place to end up. We don’t want to get so busy doing religious things that we stop paying attention to God Himself. 

When we hear Jeremiah’s point of view and what Jesus is saying, it all makes sense. Living and depending on God is first and foremost. Keep that number one. Then when Jesus comes with The Parables he’s asking the same question: Are you willing to let God teach you? And that’s why all these stories, all these parables we know, have lasted so long, for 2000 years! Every time you come back to them, you notice something new in them. You might hear one little detail differently, or you might hear one of Jesus’ stories and you might make a new connection you never made before. That was Jesus’ plan. That was Jesus’ intention. 

So, I think that’s a good question for us to think about today. When we hear the readings at Mass, like a parable or a story, are we just hearing familiar words or are we listening to what the Holy Spirit is telling us today? Those are two very different things, right? The people who got the most out of Jesus’ teaching weren’t necessarily the smartest people in the crowd. They were the ones who were willing to keep listening. 

So,  let’s make that our prayer. Let’s try to make that our goal. When Jesus speaks to us, let’s not just hear, but really listen to what He’s saying. What is trying to teach us? What is happening in the words of Scripture? The more we listen, the more we pay attention, the more and more we find out. Let’s try to, not just pray, not just say words, but let them sink in, let them have meaning, so that they can change our world.  

Homily by Father Peter Latouf

St. Peter Catholic Church / Diocese of Orlando