Ordinary Time

Pause

For something to be revealed, something has to first be unseen. It could be hidden, unnoticed, or camouflaged. When what was unseen is then revealed, we often react. Fear, awe, surprise, delight. Our emotions respond.

Open our eyes, Lord, and let us see what you would have us see. Let us see with the eyes of Christ, and let us respond with a spirit of faith.

Listen

So, since we have such a hope, we act with great confidence. We aren’t like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites couldn’t watch the end of what was fading away. But their minds were closed. Right up to the present day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. The veil is not removed because it is taken away by Christ. Even today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But whenever someone turns back to the Lord, the veil is removed.

2 Corinthians 3:12-16

Think

In this passage, Paul is critical of those who were the recipients of God’s message which Moses brought down the mountain. He accuses them of being more excited by the glow of Moses’ skin and his veil. The people were more excited about this — the veil — than the miracle of the message.

Often we can confuse the gift with the wrapping paper. In an old comedy, Splash (1984), a mermaid changes into a human for love. She finds the man she loves, but then tries to hide from him that she is a mermaid. The man brings her a beautifully wrapped gift. She gushes with thanks at its outside beauty. She doesn’t understand that the true present is inside, mistaking the wrapping for what was special.

How often do we do the same thing? We think outward appearances are what is important — when truly, it is what is inside of us that God cares about most. Oh Lord, deliver us from only seeing the outside when the gift inside awaits.

Rock Higgins

Pray

Lord, when I miss what you want to reveal to me and get caught up in the outward appearances, please forgive me. Open my eyes. Awaken me from my comfortable dreams to live in the reality of what you hold most dear. Amen.

Go

Open our eyes, Lord, and let us see what you would have us see. Let us see with the eyes of Christ, and let us respond with a spirit of faith.