Reflections from the Heart – December 26, 2021

Feast of the Holy Family
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” Have you ever stopped to consider how easy it is for us to change our minds but how difficult it is for us to change our hearts? We change our minds so often, so quickly. We don’t give it a second thought. How often have we set our mind on purchasing a particular item online or in a store and have decided we want it because it’s the best, it’s on sale, it’s 50% off, only to end up buying something else? Research says on average we make 35,000 decisions a day. That’s a lot of choices to consider. I wonder how many of those decisions come from simply changing our minds. There are even moments when we change our mind so many times that we cannot even make a final Decision. Imagine being in the Temple hearing Jesus speak for the first time in a public setting. All those who heard him speaking in the Temple were astounded. They were amazed at the profound wisdom that came from the heart of this twelve year old boy who spoke the truth with such confidence and eloquence that they couldn’t stop listening to him speak about the Father, about Moses, about the prophets, about the one who was to come into the world to redeem the house of Israel. Why did they change their minds so quickly about Jesus? He never changed his message. He consistently preached the Good News of forgiveness, of God’s love and of our salvation. How sad to consider that those who heard Jesus speak when he was twelve were probably the same teachers, the same scribes, the same elders who later questioned his relationship with the Father, diminished his authority, did not believe he was the chosen Messiah and would not accept he was the Son of God. He was only the carpenter’s son or the son of Mary his mother. God is unchanging. He remains without change. God has always been loving, merciful, kind and compassionate. He will never change. Then why is it so easy for us to change our minds when it comes to God? We question his love, his law, his will, his commands, his Decisions; yet he never stops loving us. Perhaps this is the new year when we will finally change our hearts and minds about God and come to know and believe him without a doubt, for he truly loves us.