A oes gennym ni ein llygaid ar agor i sylwi ar Dduw yn ein plith, neu a yw pethau eraill yn tynnu ein sylw? Myfyrodd ar ddarlleniadau dyddiol y Tad Richard.
Cliciwch yma am ddarlleniadau heddiw. Click here for today’s readings.
Am ddwy flynedd bron, arferwn yrru bob wythnos i weld fy nhad yng Ngwlad yr Haf. A chyn hynny wedi gwneud yr un daith bob yn ail wythnos am ryw dair blynedd. Fel y gallwch ddychmygu, daeth y daith yn adnabyddus iawn i mi. Yn wir, unwaith neu ddwy es i i ‘auto-pilot’. Un tro, pan oedd fy meddwl ar chwâl, bu bron i mi golli fy nhro oddi ar yr M5 tan y funud olaf. Dro arall, cefais fy hun ym Mryste heb unrhyw gof o groesi Pont Hafren.
Gall bywyd wneud hyn i mi weithiau. Down mor gyfarwydd â sefyllfa neu dasg nes i ni beidio â gweld yr hyn sydd o’n blaenau. Dyma’r cyhuddiad y mae’r Iesu yn ei wneud yn erbyn ei genhedlaeth ef ei hun yn yr Efengyl heddiw. Maent wedi mynd ynghlwm â’u pethau beunyddiol nes iddynt ffaelu sylwi fod Mab Duw yn eu plith, yn eu galw i edifeirwch ac i newid.
Gwrthgyferbynia’r Iesu yr osgo yma yn erbyn pobl y clywwn amdanynt yn yr Hen Destament. Jonah, y proffwyd anfodlon, a yrrwyd i bregethu edifeirwch i drigolion Ninefe, sef dinas Mosul yn Irac heddiw. Gallai’r bobl fod wedi anwybyddu Jonah ond fe wrandawon nhw, ac o’r person isaf i’r brenin ei hun daethant i edifarhau. O’r herwydd, gwaredodd Duw y bobl.
Mewn stori arall, gwelir Brenhines Sheba (Brenhines y De) yn cydnabod fod Solomon yn llawn doethineb Duw a theithiodd yn bell i’w weld, trafod gydag ef a gwrando arno. Cafodd y Frenhines a phobl Ninefe agoriad llygaid. Maen nhw’n cydnabod fod gweithredoedd Duw o’u blaenau ac yn ymateb iddynt. Cofiwn mai o’r Cenhedloedd mae’n nhw’n hanu, pobl y tu allan.
Mae’r Iesu’n dweud wrth ei genhedlaeth, “Gwnaeth pobl Ninefe a’r Frenhines yn well na chi, er fod rhywbeth mwy o’ch blaen chi.” Beth amdanon ni, heddiw? Ydyn ni wedi mynd yn ddi-ofal ac yn gwrthod cydnabod fod Duw ar waith? Felly, yn ystod y Garawys hwn, gadewch i ni fod yn ymwybodol o’r hyn y mae Duw yn ei wneud yn ein bywydau ni, bywydau eraill, ac yn ein cymuned. Gadewch i ni fod yn ddigon dewr i ymateb.
For almost two years, I would drive every week to visit my father in Somerset. And before that, I was visiting every other week for about three years. As you can imagine, I became very familiar with the route. So familiar, in fact, that once or twice I seemed to go into “auto pilot” mode. On one occasion, with my mind elsewhere, I nearly missed the junction on the M5 where I had to turn off, and only realised at the last minute. Another time, I got to Bristol and realised I had had no memory of crossing the Severn Bridge!
Life can do that to us sometimes. We become so used to a situation or a task that we stop noticing what is right in front of us. This is the charge that Jesus is making about his generation in our Gospel reading. They have become complacent, so caught up in their own lives, that they have failed to realise that the Son of God is in their midst, calling them to repentance and change.
Jesus contrasts their attitude with that of people we read about in two stories from the Old Testament. Jonah was the reluctant prophet who was sent to preach a message of repentance to the people of Nineveh, the modern-day city of Mosul in Iraq. The people could have ignored Jonah, but instead they listened, and repented, from the lowliest person to the king. The result, of course, was that God spared the people.
In the other story, the Queen of Sheba (or Queen of the South), recognised that King Solomon was full of God’s wisdom, and she travelled a great distance to see him, speak with him, and listen to him. Both the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba had their eyes open. They recognised where God was at work in front of them, and they responded. What’s more, they were both Gentiles, or outsiders.
Jesus is saying to his generation: “the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba did better than you, and yet you have something greater to notice than they had”. And what about us? Have we become complacent, and stopped noticing where God is at work? This Lent may we be on the lookout for what he is doing in our lives, in the lives of others, and in our community, and then have the courage to respond.
Yr Offeren yn Gymraeg heno yn Eglwys Sant Dyfrig a Sant Samson am 5.30pm. Mass in Welsh tonight is in St Dyfrig & St Samson at 5.30pm.
South Cardiff Ministry Area 