March 20/Third Friday of Lent
“Hear, my people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, will you not hear me?
If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk in my ways!” ~ Ps 81.9, 14
We sit down to pray, and immediately start talking. Our individual prayers will vary according to our circumstances, of course, but they pretty much boil down to expressions of praise, remorse, gratitude, and petition: “You are great and wonderful,” “I’m sorry,” “Thank you,” and “Please help.” Sometimes we become solely focused on what we need and want to tell God, and we forget that an important — possibly the most important — part of prayer is listening, listening for the voice of God in our hearts and in our lives. It is hard, at times, when we feel beset by worry over people we love, to stop talking; it is hard, at times, when we are besieged by regret or anxiety, to sit quietly and surrender ourselves to the scariness of silence. But it is precisely in that stillness, that silence, that God is to be found. As Soren Kierkegaard, 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian, wrote, “I found that I had less and less to say, until finally, I became silent, and began to listen. I discovered in the silence, the voice of God.” Are our ears truly open to hear this voice? The God of today’s psalm repeatedly, wistfully issues a call to an unhearing people. And that call still resonates, echoing down the ages through the chronically deaf and disobedient people of Israel to us today. “Where are you?” God wants to know. “I have love to give you. I have work for you to do. I have ways in which you are to walk.” In order to receive that love, to take up that work, to walk in God’s way, we must first listen carefully, every day, until we hear his voice.
Loving Lord, Open my ears to hear your voice, open my heart to receive your love, and strengthen my resolve to do your will. Amen.
To hear the Choir of Manchester Cathedral sing “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rr_4M5LQLo
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032020.cfm
