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I think today's first reading and yesterday's are very similar. As I was praying with yesterday's reading from Isaiah 40, I was resisting the idea of valleys being filled in and mountains being made low. 

"Lord," I asked in my heart, "Why would you want to bring low the mountain and fill in the valley? They're amazing examples of the beauty You created!" I couldn't stand the thought of all the splendor of the Rocky Mountains turning into the bore of the Midwest Plains. 

But in my prayer, the Lord gave me a vision of a dessert wasteland. There were many desert mountains and valleys and on the other side was my Beloved. There was little that was beautiful in that wasteland, and every high and low added distance between me and Him. It was then that I understood what He was saying. I begged for the mountains to be made low and valleys filled in so that a straight and easy path would be made for me to seek Him.

Today's reading further illuminates that vision for me. As God brings low the mountains of idolatry and fills in the valleys of sin, the desert begins to bloom. As a straight highway is made towards God, the wasteland blooms with abundant flours and beauty is everywhere. Streams and rivers contribute to the landscape, and God gently beckons His bloved toward Him, where "they will meet with joy and gladness, (where) sorrow and mourning will flee."

This is the land I want to live in. Without God, the landscape of our soul is ragged, dry, and difficult to traverse. But when we allow the Lord to soften our hearts, then beauty abounds! Our souls become the gardens they were made to be, somewhere we can peacefully rest side by side with the One whom our souls love.

That's why Jesus in today's Gospel asks the Parisees "What are you thinking in your hearts?" The landscape of the heart informs our actions. The actions of the Pharisees often seem "holy." They're trying to protect the truth, trying to defend God, and seeking to uphold His laws. But that truth, that God, and those laws are things of their own creation. The truth was that they worshiped themselves. They built up their status and their comfort, and when it was threatened they pushed back. 

Jesus asks us us, "What are you thinking in your hearts?" Is your soul a desert wasteland with many mountains and valleys blocking the way  to God? Or is He renovating your heart into a garden? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal this to you.