Tuesday, Second Week of Ordinary Time

Both of today’s readings suggest that our way of seeing can be very limited. In the first reading, when Samuel saw the first of Jesse’s sons that was brought to him he thought, ‘Surely, the Lord’s anointed one stands there’. However, Samuel heard the Lord say to him, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height… God does not see as humans see; humans look at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart’. It turned out that the son of Jesse whom God had chosen had least to recommend him, just going on appearances, Jesse’s youngest son, David. The Lord saw something in David that no human being could see. There is another instance of limited human seeing in the gospel reading. When the Pharisees saw Jesus’ disciples picking and eating ears of corn on the Sabbath, they saw people who were breaking the Sabbath Law requiring rest from labour. When Jesus looked upon the action of his disciples, he saw a legitimate attempt to satisfy hunger. He went on to say to the Pharisees that human need will often take priority offer religious law, including the Sabbath law, ‘the Sabbath was made for humans, no humans for the Sabbath’. Both readings remind us that our own way of seeing can often be very limited. We can so easily judge on the basis of appearances, rather than seeing what is beyond appearances to what is deepest in the person. Our calling is to grow into the Lord’s way of seeing, with the help of his Spirit, the Holy Spirit. The first step on that journey of deeper seeing is the acknowledgement of our own blindness and need for fuller light.

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