Thursday
of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus
19:1-2.9-11.16-20b; Matthew 13:10-17)
During
World War II both Allied and Axis forces used secret codes to transmit messages
without the enemy’s understanding. One
of the most effective codes was developed by the Navajo Native American nation. The Navaho language was complex, unwritten,
and not widely known. 400 Navajo men
were trained in radio communications.
They transmitted messages about Marine troop movements and battle
tactics in the Pacific Theatre without the Japanese knowing the Americans were
doing.
In the
gospel of Matthew Jesus uses parables as a kind of secret code. He does not want the people, who by now have largely turned against him, to understand what he is saying.
In the Sermon on the Mount he told disciples not to throw pearls before
swine. Here he practices what he
preached. But how does he know that the
people are against him? Again, especially
in the Gospel of Matthew but also in John Jesus is portrayed as the incarnate
Son of God. He knows human hearts -- which
will repent of their sins and be converted and which are incorrigible.
Jesus’ code
has been given to us through faith and in Baptism. It assures us that all will be well if we
follow his ways. For some his message is
foolishness. But for us it is the way of
our salvation.
