(Homily for March 23, 2017).
Once upon a time, a teacher was asked about his students, and
his response was: “Very difficult! Even if you break their heads and put the
textbook inside their brains, they will still not know anything.”
To have a hardened heart is to be totally unwilling to learn,
unwilling to take correction and unwilling to obey. A hardened heart is like a glass
cup filled to the brim, nothing new comes in.
In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, the people had developed
hardened hearts. They refused to obey the voice of God but instead walked in
their own counsels. They refused any discipline and truth itself vanished from
their lips.
We get to see another dimension of hardness of heart in the
Gospel passage characterised by doubt in God. The people accused Jesus of
casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub.
Hardness of heart often begins with disobedience of God’s
commandments even in small matters and soon grows into full blown hatred for
God which then metamorphoses into doubt in the existence of God or his presence
in our world.
The prodigal son realized his foolishness and went back home in
humility but a hardened heart would rather remain to eat the food of pigs out
of sheer pride.
A really hardened heart is that it is always correct! It never
accepts correction. Such a person finds it extremely hard to go for confession
and even if he does, he simply goes there to justify his wrong doings and blame
everyone else.
Hardness of heart is indeed the worst thing that can ever happen
to us. The children of Israel displayed hardness of heart in their journey
through the desert; they complained bitterly at every step of the way and when
they were given a slight chance, they turned to the worship of the golden calf –
they never really believed it was God leading them out of slavery; they were
still too attached to the gods they served in Egypt.
The cure for hardness of heart is telling ourselves we could be
wrong and that what we think we know is not always right. This means
acknowledging our nothingness before God so as give God his due. As the
Psalmist sings: “O come, let us kneel and bend low.”
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, heal me from the vice of pride; my longing to
exult myself, teach me that there is something called humility. May I be poor
in Spirit Lord. Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 3rd Week of Lent. Bible
Study: Jeremiah 7:23-28 and Luke 11:14-23).
Fr. Abu.
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