3RD WEEK OF LENT

Listen to my voice. 

Whether you’re speaking at a business meeting or giving directions to your children, it’s important to make sure that the first thing you say is the main thing you want your hearer to remember. God does that here, through Jeremiah. His essential message is “Listen to my voice” (Jeremiah 7:23). For the people of Jeremiah’s time, that meant following the commands in the first five books of Scripture and listening to God’s word spoken through the prophets. It meant studying God’s words intently so that they became written on their hearts and thus became second nature to them.

Today, centuries later, we still need to ponder and to study the word of God intently. That has never changed. But what has changed is that we now have the Holy Spirit living in us. He is here to speak God’s word to us and to give us the wisdom we need. He brings the written words of Scripture to life for us and points out how we can apply these words to our day-to-day situations.

God is always speaking: through prayer and the thoughts that come to mind as you pray; through Scripture and sacred music; through the words of other people; even through your memories, imagination, and emotions. God can also speak through billboards or catalogs, wind in the trees or waves on the shore, a roaring fire or a gentle whisper. And, as with the Israelites, he wants us to listen, to pay attention to his voice all throughout the day. You may not always hear correctly, but you can expect that he will speak to you. Over time, you will learn to recognize it.

“If today you hear his voice,” the responsorial psalm urges, “harden not your hearts” (Psalm 95:8). Be open, willing, and ready to assent to what you hear, to ask for understanding, or to make note of it for more prayer later. Resolve to obey as best you can, and then act according to your understanding. The result, God promises, is that you will be his own: “I will be your God and you shall be my people” (Jeremiah 7:23).

“Lord, help me to listen to your voice and obey your direction and correction so that I may live faithfully today.”

Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9
Luke 11:14-23
Jeremiah 7:23-28

WORD AMONG US