March 11/Third Thursday of Lent
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.” ~ Ps 95.8-9
It is easy to have faith when things are going along smoothly, isn’t it? When our hopes or dreams are realized, when things go our way at work, when our health is good and our family life is calm (a relative value, no pun intended), then we have no difficulty singing joyfully to the Lord or entering into his presence with thanksgiving, as the psalmist invites us to do at the opening of this psalm. But when our fortunes reverse, it doesn’t take long for ingratitude to set in. “Why me, God?” we may ask in the case of individual setbacks; “why us, Lord?” in the face of a pandemic that has so altered our lives. Our hearts harden, our necks stiffen, and we snatch back our joyful trust in our creator. That’s what the people of Israel did repeatedly. The psalm’s references to the double-named place Meribah (from the Hebrew for “quarrel”) and Massah (from the Hebrew for “test”) point to a moment during Israel’s wilderness wanderings when they were experiencing hardship (recounted in Exodus 17.1-7). Even though God had just led them out of enslavement in Egypt – certainly a cause for rejoicing! – they resisted the desert. They were weary, disgruntled, and thirsty. Despite their experience of God’s goodness, their hearts hardened, their necks stiffened, and they put God to the test. Perhaps we might give some thought to whether we, too, are “fair-weather” believers, praising the Lord when he gives, second-guessing or quarreling with him when he takes away. Our challenge for Lent and beyond, particularly as we continue to live in such changeable circumstances, is to keep our necks pliant and our hearts open to God in the rough times as well as the smooth.
Lord God Almighty, Rock of our deliverance, Soften our hard hearts, and grant us infinite trust in your goodness. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031121.cfm
To hear the hymn “Come, Let Our Voices Join to Raise,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW0bXSKHioM
