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

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

I love foods that reheat easily.

We cook a lot of bulk meals in our home so we can have leftovers and easily get dinner on the table. Meals that reheat well are a dream come true for our crazy lives and schedules. 

You know what does not reheat well: garlic bread. On one hand, it provides a nice excuse to make sure you eat all the bread in one sitting so there is none leftover. On the other hand, when we occasionally attempt to save bread, it seems like it immediately goes from bread to bread-shaped concrete in the span of a day.

The phrase “harden not your hearts,” from this Sunday’s Psalm had me thinking about garlic bread. How could something infinitely more valuable and wonderful than garlic bread, like the heart, the instrument of love and compassion, become so hardened?

When you put hard bread in the microwave, it somehow gets even worse and becomes either soggy or chewier than cardboard. In the same way, when someone with a hard heart is exposed to the warmth of God’s love but chooses to stay hardened, they end up in an even worse state that they were in before. They lash out, stand their ground, get defensive or even angry. Why?

Pride.

Pride was the sin of Pharaoh in Exodus that hardened his heart. He was unwilling to let the Hebrew people go because he enjoyed the power and free labor the Hebrew slaves provided. In his pride, Pharaoh refused to listen to the commands of God given through Moses to let his people go. The Lord even sent plagues to show Pharaoh that the Egyptian gods were false and he was making a mistake, but Pharaoh became even more obstinate and stubborn with each one.

Several hundred years later, the prophet Isaiah was tasked with preaching a similar message to the Hebrew people, warning them to turn away from sin and idolatry, but they did not listen. The passage is actually quoted twice in the New Testament in both Matthew and Act of the Apostles, and the meaning becomes more and more clear with each iteration:  

Make the heart of this people sluggish, dull their ears and close their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart understand, and they turn and be healed. -Isaiah 6:10

Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them. -Matthew 13:15

Gross is the heart of this people; they will not hear with their ears; they have closed their eyes, so they may not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them. -Acts 28:27

These passages describe our hearts becoming “sluggish,” “gross,” or “hardened,” which are all the same word in Greek: epachynthē (ἐπαχύνθη). With each passage, the message of how this happens becomes clearer: our hearts are hardened when we refuse to see or listen.

When we are not receptive to the voice of God spoken to us in prayer or through the mouths of others, we fall into the sin of pride and our hearts become hardened.

Are you open to change, or firmly set in your ways?

Are you quick to criticize others, but slow to affirm them?

Are you open to criticism, or do you get defensive?

Do you ask for feedback, or do you assume you are doing every right?

If we are not willing to listen to the Lord’s voice or to see with the eyes of God, our stubbornness can be a stumbling block for us and even make us liable for judgment:

By your stubbornness and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God. - Romans 2:5

A few years ago, I was listening to a podcast interview with a woman who had an incredibly odd birthday tradition. Every year, instead of having everyone go around and share their favorite memory or quality of the birthday girl, she would ask everyone one question:

What is something about me that bothers or irks you?

She did not ask the question to fish for compliments or gain pity, she wanted to get feedback from the people who knew her and loved her best about where there was room in her life for growth and improvement. I thought it was such a good idea that I posted the question online for anyone who knew me to answer.

People thought I was crazy.

Some people offered compliments and affirmed me.

Some friends messaged me privately to see if I was okay.

Others were worried if I would get hurt or discouraged by what people might say.

A few actually answered the question and I deeply appreciated what they said and took it to heart.

It is not easy to break down the walls of pride, especially because we live in a world that sees all feedback as overwhelmingly hurtful and negative unless it is complete praise and approval.

We are not perfect, so let’s stop acting like it.

Where do you need to grow?

How is your narrow vision limiting you from seeing your life from God’s perspective?

Are you listening to God’s voice, especially when He says things that are difficult for you to hear?

Who in your life can you ask for honest feedback from? Will you?

Pride is considered the root of all sins.

It is what caused Adam and Eve to lack trust in God and stop listening.

It is the source of every disobedience and destructive choice we make.

It hardens our hearts.

God is always speaking, but we need to be ready to listen and change our perspective, or we risk becoming like Pharaoh: too stubborn to see the power and direction of God in front of us until it is too late and our pride leads to our destruction.

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, September 10th, 2023, which is The Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A: Psalms 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9.