Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
As my wife and I look forward to the birth of our first son in October, I look back on the last 6 months of her pregnancy and reflect upon the milestones along the way. Reading articles online, attending routine doctor visits, and paying attention to the signs and symptoms that my wife has been experiencing herself, my wife and I were able to monitor the development of our child fairly closely. We learned that our baby’s heart started beating at 5 weeks old! At 9 weeks, his fingerprints were already impressed upon his small hands! Watching the baby during the ultrasound or feeling the baby’s kicks for the first time, it’s hard not to be impressed by God’s creative nature. And in a true moment of grace, even though it’s your son, you feel that you can take credit for none of it and that God Himself is close by.
Perhaps surprisingly, my favorite stage in the development of our baby so far was at 23 weeks. Reaching this recent milestone, the ears of our son were fully developed and he was able to hear for the first time. More than any other time, I felt so connected to my son knowing that he could hear me. I even learned that the lower-frequency sounds of a male voice will penetrate the abdomen and uterine wall better than the higher frequencies of his mom’s voice. Since 23 weeks, we’ve had a special connection. Even though he can’t touch me and he can’t see me, I’m hopeful that he is now aware of me and is able to listen to my voice. And even if he can’t understand what the words mean, I know he can at least hear me when I say, “I love you, Andrew!” But I can’t wait for the day when he can not only hear me, but touch me and see me as well.
In today’s first reading, God speaks to His people through the prophet Jeremiah, who was called by God during the final years of Judah and prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Although the people of Judah, just like my son in his mother’s womb, couldn’t see their Father, God, or touch Him, they could still hear the voice of God through His prophet. However, because they neglected the voice of God in their lives, God refers to the people of Judah as “wicked people who refuse to obey my words.” All of the sins and disobedience of Judah- their worship and adoration of strange gods and the stubbornness of their hearts- can be traced back to the final words of today’s first reading: “But they did not listen.” The words of God provide us with a special connection and an intimate relationship with God our Father. When we refuse to listen to these words, the relationship itself becomes compromised. Our ability to hear the voice of God allows us to fulfill the promise of what we are created to be – a people who cling to God by not only listening to His voice, but responding to it in what we think, what we say, and how we act. In this way, we become the people of God, His renown, His praise, and His beauty.
In the Gospel reading from Matthew, God communicates with His people in a new way. No longer speaking through a prophet, God Himself speaks in the Person of Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, through parables. By speaking in parables, Jesus is able to reveal unspoken truths to the children of God, to “fulfill what had been said through the prophet” and “announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.” This was a revolutionary way in which no one had ever heard, or rather experienced, the voice of God before! And although it is remarkable and amazing that my son could hear my voice at 23 weeks, this relationship won’t even compare to when he can not only hear me, but see me and touch me as well. This more intimate relationship is what God offers to us through Jesus, the Word Made Flesh. Through Christ, the voice of God is not just heard, but is able to be seen, understood in a new way, and experienced! It is one thing to speak about the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a far different and greater thing to meet the King.
We all desire to hear the voice of God. With respect to prayer, our common assumption is that of course we listen, but God doesn’t speak. Today’s readings tell a different story. Not only is God speaking, but He won’t stop speaking to us until His message of love and justice is heard and understood by His children. Every single day in an infinite number of ways God speaks the words “I love you!” to each of us, even though we cannot see our Father in heaven. But just because we cannot see God does not change the reality of God in our lives. Through Scripture and through the Magisterium of the Church, we are given the opportunity to hear and experience the voice of God. As disciples, let us never say that God is not speaking, but rather let’s pray for the grace to be able to listen attentively and respond faithfully to the voice of God. Amen.
Ryan J. Mahle