Listening for the Voice of God And Being Perfect

Welcome to my blog.

God speaks to us each day through the readings from the Holy Bible. These are chosen under the inspiration of God’s Spirit and provided for us by the Church founded and lead by the Spirit of Jesus.

You will find them here. If we take time daily to read, understand and in silence to pray from our heart, Jesus, through his Spirit, will nourish us and our life will be transformed.

Let us ask ourselves: what is God saying to me today through these readings?

May the Spirit of God be with you.

Tuesday 16 June 2020

Listening for the Voice of God And Being Perfect

Ps 26: 7, 9

O Lord, hear my voice, for I have called to you; be my help.

Do not abandon or forsake me, O God, my Saviour!

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Prayer

Father, strength of those who hope in you,

graciously hear our prayers,

and, since without you, we can do nothing,

grant us always the help of your grace.

May we always follow your commands

and so please you by our resolve and our deeds.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.

____________________

First reading

1 Kings 21:17-29

You have provoked me by leading Israel into sin.

After the death of Naboth the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite: “Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be in the vineyard of Naboth, of which he has come to take possession. This is what you shall tell him, ‘The Lord says: After murdering, do you also take possession? For this, the Lord says: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.’” Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me out, my enemy?” “Yes,” he answered. “Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the Lord’s sight, I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you and will cut off every male in Ahab’s line, whether slave or freeman, in Israel. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah, because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin.” (Against Jezebel, too, the Lord declared, “The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.”) “When one of Ahab’s line dies in the city, dogs will devour him; when one of them dies in the field, the birds of the sky will devour him.” Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil in the sight of the Lord as did Ahab, urged on by his wife Jezebel. He became completely abominable by following idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord drove out before the children of Israel.

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued. Then the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son.” THE WORD OF THE LORD.

Prayerful reflection

‘The Lord said to Elijah’. Does the Lord speak to you? If the Word of the Lord does not come to us or we do not hear it, how can we live in the light? Our life, like Ahab’s, will be in darkness and we will stumble into one sin after another. His Word must penetrate our minds and hearts. It must take possession of us. Then like the rain, it will turn the desert into a garden of delight. (Isaiah 55;10). It will purify us from the secret sin in our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12).

How can we hear the Word God speaks to us? His voice is in silence. ‘He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street’ (Isaiah 42:2). ‘After the fire, a still small voice. When he heard it, Elijah covered his face with a mantle…and behold there came a voice to him…’ (1 Kings 19:12-13).

Like Elijah, we too must go to the Lord, as he went to Horeb. We too must enter into the presence of the Lord in silence, the silence of the heart. Read the Word in the Bible. Then in silence let God speak to us. It is easy to deceive ourselves – ‘the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately corrupt’  (Jeremiah 17:9). We need to discern whether we ‘have created the word of God’ or whether God has truly spoken. The Church is our guide.

In silent prayer each day listen to the Lord speaking. Receive his Spirit and be transformed. If we truly listen, he will lead us in paths we have never imagined.

Psalm

Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 11 and 16

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;

in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt

and of my sin cleanse me.

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

For I acknowledge my offense,

and my sin is before me always.

Against you only have I sinned,

and done what is evil in your sight.

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Turn away your face from my sins,

and blot out all my guilt.

Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;

then my tongue shall revel in your justice.

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

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John 13:34

Alleluia, alleluia.

I give you a new commandment:

love one another as I have loved you.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 5:43-48

Love your enemies.

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

No one ever told us to hate our enemies but if you hate the person who has ruined your life, many will not blame you. That is the way of the world, but not the way of Jesus (Isaiah 55:8, my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord). Those who do us harm and wish us ill, are the very ones we are to love and to whom we are to do good. This is the way of the Lord, because it is the way of God. He gives rain, the essential for life, to wicked people as well as to saints. It was sinner who tortured and crucified the One who gives them the rain, (see Hebrews 6:6). Too hard for us? Jesus goes further.

“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect”.

How can we be perfect? “It is impossible to men, but not to God, for all things are possible for God (Mark 10:28). So, we can be perfect through his grace.

To become perfect we must study the life of Jesus – he is the image of the invisible God (Colossians1:15). He alone is the perfect human being. Day by day, we must make his life, his thoughts, words, and actions our prayerful study.

Do you give time daily to watching Jesus and to listening to him? Are you really a disciple?

Jn 17: 11

Holy Father, keep in your name those you have given me,

that they may be one as we are one, says the Lord.

Prayer

Father, from the beginning you entrusted

your Word to your Church. Grant that we may

always listen to your Church and so be one

in our understanding of the Scriptures.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.