God wants us to hear; are you listening?
Generally speaking, prophets were good listeners. In our reading this weekend, Isaiah notes
that The Lord God opens his ear that he may hear, and he has not
rebelled or turned back. To the contrary: God fills Isaiah, bringing him
confidence. In biblical times, the
prevailing belief was that by speaking to someone, you could open their hearts
and thereby enter in, creating a sense of intimacy. God thus enters into Isaiah, who therefore
has nothing to fear, because the Lord God
is his help.
In the Gospel of Mark, Peter hears… and then he
doesn't. His ability to acknowledge that
Jesus is the Christ, a remarkable
insight into Jesus' identity, is possible because God has opened Peter's ears. But Peter doesn't understand what this
means: he's looking for a power-hungry messiah whereas Jesus speaks of his own future suffering. Peter is too caught up in his own self-focus,
thinking as human beings do. It's time for him to listen, to pay attention
to Jesus' statement that Whoever wishes
to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Peter wants to show faith, as James writes, but fails in the implementation; his works are not yet sufficient, his
understanding not yet profound, and he needs to engage in ongoing listening if he
is going to move forward in faith.
God is a good listener, as Psalm 116 notes: he has
inclined his ear to me. And if we
manage to listen in turn, we too will be saved,
freed from death.
God wants us to hear; are we listening?
This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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