What we do see depends mainly on what we look for....

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – St Matthew: one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and one of the four Evangelists)

Gospel Text: (LK 10:21-24)

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

for although you have hidden these things

from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

No one knows who the Son is except the Father,

and who the Father is except the Son

and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said,

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I say to you,

many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,

but did not see it,

and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

All genuine prayer in our own lives is an expression of the working of the Holy Spirit within us. Our prayer, in a sense, is only an entering into the ongoing prayer of the Holy Spirit deep within our hearts. In his prayer noted in today’s gospel Jesus gives thanks to God for all those who have welcomed Jesus’ revelation of his own intimate relationship with God. It is the children who have received this revelation, those considered weak and vulnerable, while those regarded as learned and clever have rejected this revelation. Jesus addresses his own disciples as among those who have received Jesus’ revelation of his own intimate relationship with God, “Happy the eyes that see what you see. Advent is a time when we try to open our eyes more fully to what the Lord is trying to reveal to us. It is a season when we become like children so as to receive with greater openness what the Lord is offering us, a share in his own intimate relationship with God.