Psalm Reflection: The Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” - Psalm 95

My last job before being called to full-time ministry was as a chef in fine dining. I loved it, but the hours were long and the environment was intense. The main source of stress was my ticket machine. We had an automated order system, so when a dish was needed from my particular part of the kitchen, it would automatically print up on my ticket machine. I used to hear the sound of that machine everywhere—I would even dream about it and jolt awake at night thinking I was “in the weeds” and falling behind. Maybe you’ve experienced this when you think you feel or hear your phone going off, or dream about being unprepared on the first day of school. I had unknowingly trained myself to expect stress when I heard that sound, and when the sound was removed I expected it to come anyway.

I think this is how we are with God sometimes. We might think that God is always going to ask us to do unfavorable or difficult things, and if we do not measure up there will be consequences. We can falsely characterize our relationship with Him as a boss-employee dynamic rather than a Father-child relationship. If we think God is a divine employer who is always reigning down corrections and criticisms, we can develop the same resentment toward Him that we would to any other overbearing and unsympathetic boss. Then, when we hear His voice, we might harden our hearts before we even take a moment to listen.

The truth is that God does not need anything from you. He is not waiting to love you based on your performance or your faithfulness. His desire to be in relationship with you has nothing to do with how successful you are in practicing your faith. He loves you the same no matter where you are on your journey with Him. We cannot do this faith thing on our own, and so He is constantly speaking and seeking us out to guide us along the way. If we harden our hearts as soon as we hear Him, we miss the opportunity to let Him help us. Yes, what God says to us might be difficult, but He would never say it if it were unattainable. When God speaks to us we can trust that what He says is for our greatest possible good, fulfillment and happiness.

So, this week, I invite you to listen to God’s voice in the two ways He speaks: in the silence of prayer and in sacred Scripture. Let His words challenge you and embrace you, and recognize when you find yourself struggling to be open because you think it will be too hard, stressful or unsatisfying to follow Him. Keep listening, and I promise you will find the answers to every question on your heart.

We are praying for you this week.

See you in the Eucharist.

Matt.