March 17/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 circumstances, but they are often focused on what we need (or want). In our rush to communicate with our all-knowing Creator, however, 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 think we have it all figured out, to refrain from giving God directions; and it is hard, at times, when we are besieged by regret or anxiety, to resist launching a plan of our own devising to “fix” things. The harder and wiser path, of course, is to sit quietly and surrender ourselves to the scary silence. For it is precisely in that stillness that God is to be found. As Soren Kierkegaard, 19th-century Danish philosopher and theologian, wrote of prayer, “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 for you to walk in.” In order to receive that love, to take up that work, to walk in those ways, we must listen carefully, every day, to hear the voice of God.
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 Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Virtual Choir (remember those days?) sing “Blessed Jesus, At Your Word,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqnKnU5yKIU
For today’s reading, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031723.cfm
