THEY HAVE EARS, BUT THEY DO NOT HEAR

Frt. Robert Sablon, msp

MSP Seminary – Tagaytay City

Thursday Sharing - July 21, 2011

When I was seven years old, grade one at that time, in one Saturday afternoon, my father got home from the farm.  He called me out from my playmates and told me to dress up for we will go to the church for my first confession. Two weeks before this event, my mother, who was a volunteered parish catechist for more than 5 years at that time, gave me a catechesis about the basic truth of our catholic faith from time to time. Along with this catechesis, she asked me to memorize the Apostles’ Creed. Friday night after regular rosary, she asked me to recite the Apostles’ Creed. I did not know that she was already preparing me for my first confession and my first communion. This happened on March 13, 1987. The next day, I had my first confession together with my father and the following day which is Sunday was my first communion.  I grew up without understanding why it should be. When ever I saw the pictures of my classmates during their first communion, with the white dress like an angel in line in the church’s aisles, I fell envious. I was not with them. I received my first communion when I was finishing my grade I, but for them (my classmates, they were already in grade II, where the catechists organized it. Only when I read the biography of St. Therese of the Child Jesus during my college days and our religion education teacher required us to read. There I found out the truth. The truth that parents should guide their children to grow in faith which they promised during the baptism of the child.  This was very clear in the life of St. Therese, how she was been spiritually accompanied by her father, and so my parents practiced it too.  Those days, the prophecy of Isaiah was likewise fulfilled:  “I looked but did not see; I listened but did not hear or understand.” But now, it is different. I understood it well!

In the Gospel today, the disciples can not comprehend why Jesus spoke parables. So they asked him and Jesus explained, “they look but do not see, they listen but do not hear or understand.” Just like how I make myself preoccupied of thinking for the reasons why people today can not understand the importance and dignity of human life. Why people waste their money in cigarettes, or get hang-over after drinking liquors? Why mother aborted her own child, or a father battered his wife? Why PCSO accused the bishops of Pajero where in fact there is none and the media published it without making investigations? Why lovers keep on hurting each others? Why seminarians still want to have a girlfriend or a boyfriend (sa TMP pa) (Jokingly aside) Why people of today rejects God?

Why they can not see even they have eyes, why they can not hear or understand even they have listened.

When I was in Cebu for my MSFY, that was the time when an MSP priest just ordained priest left his priesthood and lived with his girlfriend. In one of our sessions with Fr. Alfie, he asked us how are we affected about it. Reactions and comments flooded. Generally, the reactions revolved around the issue “who’s to be blamed?” Surprisingly that Fr. Alfie concluded the discussion with his statement, “Maybe we have not seen the goodness that Fr. X has seen in the girl and in his decision. We are not in the authority to judge but we need to have eyes that see the heart.

Again, it echoes what Jesus said, “you have eyes but cannot see, you have listened but can not hear or understand.”

With so many questions I need to answer and so difficult to see things clearly or understand our situation plainly. I could say that our world is so complex and so complicated to find the truth – qued est veritas? It seems that everything is relative. And because of this, I could conclude that the world is in chaos, our nation is in chaos, and our church is likewise in chaos. Every truth we hold on is now put to test and question. The time runs fast that one could not notice he is already out of the fashion.

Just like what we use to call modesty is now called a sex hang-ups. That we use to called chastity is now called old fashion or “di ka-in”.  That we used to called humility is now cowardice. The one we use to called discipline is now called unhealthy repression or “pakipot lang yan” or “maarte”. The one we called disgusting movies or taboo shows are now called adult movies and mature shows.  The one we called moral responsibility is now called being free and liberated. The one we called living in sin is now called living in a meaningful relationship like pre-marital sex now they called “normal lang yan kasi yan na ang practice”. The one we used to call killing and aborting a child is now called choice.  What happen now to our values, to our culture, to our dignity?

They look but do not see; they listen but do not hear or understand.

Today, I am quite afraid. Afraid of what will be our response - my response to all this chaos. We are frantically busy everyday with our studies and community responsibilities that make us blind, deaf, and numb. We have an old Filipino dictum, “Mahirap gisingin ang taong gising na, mahirap tawagin ang taong ayaw mamansin at mahirap ipaliwanag sa taong ayaw making.” Our philosophy and theology are sometimes hindrances to see and understand the truth, the mysteries of life and the grandeur plan of God for us. The problem is in us! We pretend that we don’t know. We ignore the reality.

We have eyes but can not see and we have ears but can not hear and we listen but can not understand.

 We can not understand because we did not listen to God’s voice. The word ‘lapse of judgement’ and ‘sorry’ are been top expression that the media is feasting nowadays. People do things without much thinking and reflecting, without praying and contemplating including myself. We say things we do not mean. We make promise that we could hardly keep. We have eyes but can not see. We hear but can not understand.

Nevertheless, God will not give up on us. God gives us everyday a new opportunity to redeem our selves, to correct our mistakes, to turn away from sin and accept the will of God for us. All these need a praying heart. To silent our selves and talk to Jesus. Tom discern with the power of the Holy spirit so that our work will not be in vain. Our ways is not God’s or His thoughts are not the same with ours. 

I would like to end this sharing with a story:

A man ploughing his field in one morning saw a cloud forming a 3 letters. He closed his eyes and prayed if what God wants him to do in his life. Opening his eyes, he saw the cloud forming letters G, P and C. He interpreted it as a message of God for his new mission. He was thinking that God wants him to “Go Preach Christ”. The following morning, he went to his parish priest and tell the story convincing his parish priest if he could preach in the pulpit on that Sunday.  The parish priest agreed. The Sunday came. The man sat in front and as soon as the Gospel was read he went to the pulpit.  By the time he started his faith sharing, everybody laugh at him, and many of the church goers went home without finishing the holy mass. The man felt bad. After the mass, he met the parish priest in the sacristy. With passion, the parish priest comforted him and asked him what happen. The man realized that he got a wrong message, he told the priest. He explained, Father, God really showed me these 3 letters, GPC but I interpreted it wrong, the message for me is not “Go Preach Christ” but “Go Plant Corn”. I will go back to my farm and continue ploughing it so that I could harvest corn and share this to my neighbours.  

My dear brothers in the community, we really need a fervent prayer before doing our plans in life. We need to find the truth always and not to be trap by relativism like the ex-husband in the first story or not seeing in our simple work as our contribution to God’s grandeur plan like a farmer in the second story.  We need a complete trust to God in prayer so that He will reveal to us His plan and our mission.

 Like St. Lawrence Brindisi, whose memorial we are celebrating today, will be united in Christ.  Everywhere he completed a mission, there were miracles and conversions. His words and example were always inspiring, simple yet profound. He was a person of enormous influence and his writings probably exceeded all the doctors. This happen because he saw God in all his works and he prayed fervently and unceasingly to understand the plan of God for him.

In this Eucharist, let us pray that God will bring us wisdom. Make us wise. Make us gentle. Give us the right decision to chose life not death and sin. That we will not just play life blind, deaf and numb in the point of refusing to make a change in the chaos world we are in. May the spirit of sacrifice and generosity will live in us always. This is a clarion call to all of us especially that the greatest error of today is the denial of sin. Everything is relative. We put on make-up and we say it looks so natural and we become at home with our sins. The journey that we begun here in the seminary and the learning we have in philosophy and theology will be our spear to fight this error of our time. Like Moses in the first reading, led his people out of the camp to meet God. Moses recognized the voice of God in thunder because he is a Man of prayer.

May we be like Moses to be God’s instrument for others to come in truth for this generation have eyes but can not see, ears but can not hear and listen but can not understand.