At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son wishes to reveal him."
The Word in other words
A visiting friend told me of her experience when she visited one of our communities in the north. When requested by one of the Sisters to bring the community to a place for a funeral, my friend readily agreed. The Sister promised to direct the driver since she had previously been assigned to that place. When it seemed that they were lost, another Sister suggested that they inquire from the people they passed by, but the confident Sister insisted she knew the place. In the end, they were not able to find their way and had to go back home instead.
It is against this way of thinking that Jesus warns us in today's Gospel. Jesus does not condemn intelligence. In fact, it is one of God's gifts to us. What Jesus condemns is our arrogance in thinking that, because of this gift of intelligence, we know better and therefore no need for further instruction, or that we don't have anything to learn from others anymore.
Through the attitude that Jesus enjoins us to acquire today, we can be open to another message of the Gospel; that, however advance is our intelligence, it is only Jesus who reveals God to us. It is our Christian conviction that it is in Jesus Christ alone that we see what God is like, and that Jesus can give knowledge to anyone who is humble and trustful enough to receive it.
- Sr. Arlene F. Lobitana, SSpS (Manila)
