A sharp knife and a blunt knife have different uses.
A sharp knife slices and cuts things easily, be it bread or vegetables or meat.
A blunt knife is as good as a butter knife. It will be frustrating to use a blunt knife or butter knife to cut or slice meat or vegetables.
God had intended Israel to be a sharp sword, with which He will use to fight against her enemies and to drive them out of the land that He had promised them.
But from being a sharp sword, they became a blunt knife as soon as they entered the land that God had promise them.
They became unfaithful to God and turned to idol worship. As the 1st reading puts it: "My people have committed a double crime: they have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, only to dig cisterns for themselves, leaky cisterns that hold no water."
In the gospel, Jesus had this to say about the people: For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing and they have shut their eyes.
In other words, from a sharp sword, the people of God had become a blunt knife, such that they whatever they saw and heard did not enter their hearts.
May we realize who we are as the people of God. May we be the sharp sword that the Lord God can use to fulfill His plan. May we also sharpen our hearts and ears and eyes through prayer and penance.
A sharp knife slices and cuts things easily, be it bread or vegetables or meat.
A blunt knife is as good as a butter knife. It will be frustrating to use a blunt knife or butter knife to cut or slice meat or vegetables.
God had intended Israel to be a sharp sword, with which He will use to fight against her enemies and to drive them out of the land that He had promised them.
But from being a sharp sword, they became a blunt knife as soon as they entered the land that God had promise them.
They became unfaithful to God and turned to idol worship. As the 1st reading puts it: "My people have committed a double crime: they have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, only to dig cisterns for themselves, leaky cisterns that hold no water."
In the gospel, Jesus had this to say about the people: For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing and they have shut their eyes.
In other words, from a sharp sword, the people of God had become a blunt knife, such that they whatever they saw and heard did not enter their hearts.
May we realize who we are as the people of God. May we be the sharp sword that the Lord God can use to fulfill His plan. May we also sharpen our hearts and ears and eyes through prayer and penance.