Seeing Without Loving

Today’s readings. 

During Lent, the theme of a hardened heart returns again and again as we read the Scriptures because in the world of Scripture, to see, to hear, to speak, and to walk are not isolated acts but expressions of the whole person before God. The eye reveals the heart, for what we truly see is what we have come to love or refuse to love. This is why a hardened heart does not merely feel less, it sees less. 

Once the heart hardens, the senses follow. Sight becomes distorted, the ears no longer receive what is given in truth, and the mouth answers not with worship or humble inquiry but with resistance. Finally, the feet—those meant to walk in the ways of the Lord—begin to carry a person elsewhere. In the Gospel, they see the works of Christ but do not love what they see; they hear his words but do not receive them; they speak against him; and then they move to stone him. What begins as an interior resistance becomes a full reorientation of the person, one that can oppose what is good while still feeling justified.

Today’s Practice – Prayer:

Take a few moments today to ask the Lord to soften what has grown hard within you. In a quiet place, bring to mind a situation, a person, or even a teaching of the faith that you find yourself resisting or dismissing. Instead of analyzing it, simply place it before God and humbly offer, “Lord, let me see this as you see it.” The aim is not to solve anything today, but to begin again with a heart willing to receive.