It takes very little
Recognizing majesty and God's hand in a sunset is immediate, simple, elementary and straightforward for some hearts and minds, while for others it is not. It didn't take much to make Nathanael believe Jesus, to recognize and to love him as God and Lord, the Son of God, the King of Israel. It took more, much more, for Thomas, for instance. It didn't take much to make the man who was born blind, who John told us about, to believe, while even much more was not enough for the priests of the temple. It did not take much to convince the Canaanite woman, who Matthew and Mark told us about, while for the elders and the leaders of the people nothing was sufficient. It didn't take very much to convince the centurion, who Matthew, Mark and Luke told us about, while even much more was not enough for Pilate. Many hearts need very little to believe in Jesus, to recognize and love him as God and Lord, the Son of God, the King of the universe, while many other hearts need a lot more, and for others nothing is sufficient. Why? What does it depend on? It depends on the level of mental pollution caused by lies and illusions. The level of deception and lies in which a heart and a mind work determines how easy or how difficult it will be to recognize, welcome, and love Jesus as the Son of God. What then are the elements that pollute the mind? The first one is the training which we have all been subected to; the second is the constant pressures to meet other people's expectations, parental blackmail, culture, ideology, social and moral conventions. In practice, for a mind unencumbered with lies and deception, which can alter the clarity of our mind and heart, reading the Gospel, recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, loving and adoring Him as God and the Lord of life is the most simple, immediate, evident, clear and elementary thing in the world. Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no guile Jesus said in this page of the Gospel. By with no guile Jesus means first of all there are no signs of the fruit of training, which is prejudice; second thre are no signs of the fruit of justification, which is hypocrisy. If a man's mind and heart are patiently and faithfully committed to cleansing themselves from prejudice and hypocrisy, Jesus becomes the most simple and lovable reality in the universe, without effort, costraint, reasonings, explanations. As only a disease or a bandage can prevent the eye from welcoming, enjoying, appreciating, loving the blue of the sky and the sun's bright light which shines everywhere, likewise only deception and hypocrisy of prejudice can prevent a mind from welcoming, enjoying, appreciating, and loving the presence of Jesus and the bright light of his Word that shines everywhere in truth and wisdom.