Romans 9 : 1-5
Luke 14 : 1-6
A telescope, as we know, gives an enlarged view of a distant object.
But that depends on which end of the telescope we are looking through.
Because looking through the wrong end would greatly reduce the size of the object.
Hence, the two different ends of the telescope give two completely opposite views of reality.
In the gospel, the Pharisees seemed to have looked through the wrong end of the telescope and they only saw a narrow, restrictive picture of reality.
They were like saying : To heal is to work, and to work is to violate the Sabbath. See for yourself, look through our telescope!
But when Jesus offers them a view from the other end of the same telescope, they were reluctant to see it ; they were silent, because for them there was only one way of looking through the telescope, there was only one way of looking at things and it was their way.
So we can imagine how frustrated and annoyed Jesus was with the Pharisees, to say the least.
Surely Jesus was anguished to see their obstinacy.
St. Paul, in the 1st reading shared the similar sentiments as Jesus, and he said that his sorrow was so great and his mental anguish so endless over his people's rejection of Christ.
Indeed, our obstinacy can cause frustration and anguish and even sorrow in others.
All because we stubbornly refuse to look at things from another point of view.
We only have to let go and ask God to help us see wider and clearer ; then we will become wiser.