March 27/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 95.9
How quick we are to turn our backs on God in the face of challenges or setbacks. Like the Israelites wandering amid the sparseness of the Sinai desert, we become weary and disgruntled. We focus on our deprivation, our struggles, our difficulties. From there it is a quick step to adopting a posture of defiance, a sort of “what have you done for me lately, God?” attitude. And as our necks stiffen and hearts grow hard, we tend to forget the many gifts, large and small, that a loving and merciful God has given us throughout our life. For me that includes my husband and children as well as my extended family, faithful (and undeserved) friends near and far, the novels of Charles Dickens, Peet’s coffee, the Morgan Library, and the spiritual blessings of my faith, including daily Mass (when possible). With all that is going on in the world outside our doors right now, and all that may be going on within our personal lives, we may be tempted to test God, to demand proof of his presence among us, like our wandering spiritual forebears. The references in today’s psalm to Meribah (Hebrew: “quarrel”) and Massah (Hebrew: “test”) exemplify this mistrust. Despite their still-fresh experience of God’s saving action in liberating them from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites’ calcified hearts were stuck on the negative. Perhaps we might take from these verses the importance of balancing whatever difficulties we face – which are real – with the recollection of God’s many acts of goodness to us. Our challenge for Lent and beyond, as we continue to live in a volatile and perturbing world, is to keep our necks flexible and our hearts soft, in rough times as well as 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/032725.cfm
To hear Carolyn Sampson and Ex Cathedra sing Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville’s “Hodie si vocem eius audieritis” (“If today you hear his voice”), click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfqn-4ZW6I
