“Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”
Are you blessed when you read the bible? Are you blessed when you go to Mass and hear the gospel spoken or the priest give his homily? Are you blessed when you see verses or inspirational passages that people send through your social media? And when I say blessed, I mean, do you ever feel like God has spoken to you personally?
In today’s gospel from Matt 13:10-17 the disciples ask Jesus why He speaks in parables? Jesus had just finished talking to the crowds about the parable of the sower and seed. But He did not explain this parable. And so then maybe the disciples were thinking that the crowd didn’t feel blessed by that message and that’s why they asked Jesus why He didn’t seem to bother to explain.
And the answer of Jesus is probably something that also applies to us who want to be blessed. He said: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” Tumitingin pero wala naman nakikita; nakikinig pero hindi naman naiintindihan.
So, what do you think? Could that also be us? We have eyes, we have ears; but are we blessed with what we see, or read, or listen to? Do we feel that Jesus has a message for us personally?
First of all, I believe that God speaks to us all the time. In fact the Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” Today, we live in a society where the bible is freely accessible in our phone devices. We can read God’s word anytime anywhere everytime everywhere. Every Sunday we go to Mass, and we hear God’s word spoken to us. Today with modern devices, the word comes to us even if we’re not looking or asking for it. Someone just sends a message in a group chat.
But even if we read or hear these messages, do we understand the message, do we even pay attention to the message? We have ears, but are we listening? We have ears and read, but are we seeing? Do you even think that God is speaking to you?
Though seeing, we do not see. Though hearing, we do not hear or understand. I don’t know about you, pero parang sayang. God who is the King of the Universe, wants to say something to us, wants to bless us, but we don’t see, we don’t hear.
The lesson of Jesus for us today is this: We just have to have eyes to see and ears to hear. But, what does that mean? Where do we get those eyes and ears to see and hear? What’s wrong with our eyes or our ears?
Let me share with you how my daughter learned this. One day, while I was doing something in my laptop, my eldest daughter, Denise – she was maybe 8 years old then – came to me and asked, “Papa, how do you know that God is talking to you?” I smiled, and I was glad she asked. But I had to make my answer simple enough for her to understand and believe. I said, “Sweetheart, this is what you do. Go to your room, get your bible, open it, and before you read it, tell the Lord, “Jesus, I know You’re here. Please speak to me. I want to hear you.”
Then, she left. I don’t know if she believed me or understood. And I went back to my work. Then after about 10 minutes, she ran back to me from her room screaming: “Papa!! Papa!! God spoke to me. I opened my bible, and I asked Him to speak to me, and what I read right there was what I wanted to hear.”
Eyes to see, and ears to hear. That’s all it takes. Right? Well, not quite. We can see, we can hear, but if we’re not predisposed to see or to listen, then we won’t get it. If we don’t care to see or listen, if we have biases or misgivings, if we have doubts … then God will not scream His message to us until we get it.
All it takes is a heart predisposed to seeing Jesus or hearing from Jesus. That kind of heart will open our eyes and ears. If you do not care to hear from Jesus, or to see Him at work, if you do not desire to discover, if you do not seek … you will not find. You will not be blessed. But if you seek Him with all your heart, if you really want in your heart to hear what Jesus wants to say to you, this is what God promises to you in Jeremiah 29:14:
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.”
So, my friends, do you want to hear from God more than anything else? Then clear your mind of all distractions, of all biases, of all doubts, and even of all concerns that you want to bring to Him, and even of your own agenda about what to talk to God about, then say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” Then I’m sure, God WILL bless you.
23 July 2026
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