Wednesday of the 24th week Lk 7,31-35

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a striking picture. He compares the people of his generation to children sitting in the marketplace and complaining:

“We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.”

What does Jesus mean?

He is speaking about the human tendency to make excuses for not responding to God.

John the Baptist came and lived a very austere life. He fasted, lived in the desert, called people to repentance, and spoke with great seriousness. And what did people say? “He has a demon.”

Then Jesus came. He ate with people, accepted invitations to their homes, sat at the table with sinners and tax collectors, and proclaimed the joy of God’s mercy. And what did people say? “Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”

John was too strict for them. Jesus was not strict enough.

John fasted—they criticized him.
Jesus ate with sinners—they criticized him.

The problem, therefore, was neither John nor Jesus. The problem was the human heart’s unwillingness to change.

This Gospel is very relevant to us because we can behave in the same way.

Sometimes we say: “If God showed me clearly what he wants, I would follow him.” But when God speaks clearly, we may say: “This is too difficult.”

We want God to comfort us, but not to correct us. We want him to forgive us, but sometimes we do not want him to ask us to forgive others. We want God’s blessings, but not always his commandments. We want Jesus as Savior, but we sometimes resist Jesus as Lord.

In other words, we want God—but often on our own terms.

John the Baptist represents the call to repentance. Jesus reveals the fullness of mercy and salvation. We need both.

There are moments when God says to us: “You must change something in your life.” Perhaps there is a sin we have become accustomed to. Perhaps resentment lives in our heart. Perhaps our prayer has become superficial. Perhaps we have neglected someone who needs us.

At such moments, we need to hear John the Baptist: “Repent. Prepare the way of the Lord.”

But there are also moments when we are discouraged, ashamed, wounded, or conscious of our weakness. Then we need to hear Jesus saying: “Come to me.”

Christianity contains both the seriousness of conversion and the joy of salvation

There is a time to weep over our sins, but there is also a time to rejoice because they have been forgiven. There is a time for fasting, and there is a time for celebration. There is a cross, but there is also a resurrection.

The danger begins when we reject every way in which God approaches us.

Sometimes God speaks through success; sometimes through disappointment. Sometimes through another person; sometimes through silence. Sometimes through Scripture; sometimes through our conscience. Sometimes through suffering; sometimes through unexpected joy.

The important question is not: “Does God speak to me in the way I would prefer?”

The important question is: “Am I willing to listen when God speaks?”

At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus says something mysterious and beautiful:

“Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

In other words, the truth of God’s way becomes visible in its fruits.

A person who truly accepts God begins to change. Perhaps slowly, perhaps with many struggles—but something happens. Pride yields way to humility. Hatred yields way to forgiveness. Selfishness yields way to generosity. Fear yields way to trust. The person becomes more capable of loving.

These are the children of divine wisdom. These are its fruits.

We can therefore ask ourselves today: What fruit is my faith producing in me?

We can hear hundreds of sermons and remain unchanged. We can know many prayers and still refuse reconciliation. We can defend Christian teaching and yet fail to love the person standing beside us.

God does not merely want us to hear his Word. He wants his Word to enter our hearts and transform our lives.

Dear brothers and sisters, God may sometimes come to us like John the Baptist, calling us to conversion. At other times, he comes like Jesus, sitting at the table with sinners, offering friendship, mercy, and a new beginning.

Let us accept him in both forms.

When God calls us to repentance, let us repent.
When he calls us to rejoice, let us rejoice.
When he asks us to forgive, let us do so.
When he invites us to trust, let us trust him.
When he calls us to follow him, let us follow him.

Let us not be like the children in the marketplace who refuse both the flute and the dirge.

Instead, let us have hearts attentive enough to recognize God’s voice, humble enough to accept his correction, and trusting enough to receive his mercy.

Then God’s wisdom will be visible in both what we believe and how we live.