Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
(II Corinthians 3:15-4.1.3-6; Matthew 5:20-26)
Today’s first reading challenges understanding. It is not an integral piece from Paul’s
letter. It also uses a difficult metaphor. In the
passage Paul tries to explain to the Corinthians why Jews have rejected the Gospel
while he urges them to embrace it.
The tricky image that Paul uses is a veil. He takes it from the Book of Exodus where
Moses used a veil to cover his face after seeing the glory of the Lord on Mount
Sinai. Paul claims that the Jews are
still prevented from seeing the reflection of the Lord’s glory, which has
become the Gospel. Paul has revealed
this to them by his preaching.
What keeps people today from embracing the Gospel? What is the contemporary veil? Different people probably are blinded by
different veils, but scientism is prevalent among many. People won’t accept anything as certain that
is not subject to empirical proof. However,
just as we are sure that parents love their children, we know that our Creator
loves us.