This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
The Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, is interlaced through and through with the theme of hardness of heart.
Maybe when you hear that phrase, the word “Meribah” enters your mind. For indeed, perhaps the most famous example of God’s rebuke to His chosen people for their hardness of heart is the occasion when Israel complained against God as a place called Massah and Meribah because they were thirsty. (cf. Ex. 17:7) Their focus on their physical discomfort, instead of leading them to ask God humbly for what they needed, led them to complain bitterly against God as if He were not providing for them adequately.
Today’s readings are full of hardness of heart. In the first reading, with the same attitude they showed throughout the Gospels, the religious leaders of Israel saw a miraculous healing as a threat rather than a gift and a sign. They ordered the disciples to stop talking in public about the name by which they had performed the miracle, that is, the name of Jesus.
We see the phrase “hardness of heart” in today’s gospel, when Jesus rebukes His disciples for not believing the word of those who had encountered Him after the Resurrection.
Hardness of heart is very prevalent in Scripture, but it is not a concept that is in fashion in Christian circles today. Hardness of heart is the decision not to follow the promptings of faith, whether promptings to believe and trust, or promptings to follow the dictates of conscience.
It is very prevalent today to speak of woundedness of heart, not hardness of heart, as what keeps people from trusting and accepting the Gospel.
In the end, however, they are similar concepts. “Hardness” is the shell that forms on the heart to protect its vulnerability, to protect it in its wounded state.
We all have wounded hearts, some more than others. Will you harden your heart and protect its vulnerability in its woundedness, like the disciples with their woundedness after the Resurrection, or will you expose your wounds full of trust to the glorious and all-powerful risen Lord, who loves you more than you will ever know?
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Think about the areas where you feel most vulnerable, the fears and wounds that would be most likely to lead you to a lack of trust and commitment to Christ. Offer those specific things to Him. With wanton generosity, tell Him that these are His; that He is free to allow you to suffer, or not; that you trust Him unconditionally.
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