Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Reading today’s Gospel I was immediately struck by one line in particular. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus tells us “’Anyone who has ears ought to hear.’ He also told them ‘Take care what you hear’”(Mk. 3:23-24) We are being told that it is our job to pay attention to the world around us, to hear. But we are also being told to be selective about what and how we choose to hear. There is a lot of noise in our world and we often have to filter out what is worth hearing and what should only be static. Amidst the noise, the technology and the busy-ness of life we often forget this simple task. We must be aware of what we are “consuming” as far as what shows we watch, music we listen to, sites we visit, because the more we expose ourselves to something the more it will start to impact who we are.
This line speaks to me of intentionality. Be intentional with how you spend your time, your energy and your attention. What media do you spend time consuming? What shows do you watch? What music is on your IPod? My dad often talks about how things can disturb your spirit – he often says this of movies that are overly graphic in some way, filled with violence or sex or other sinful actions. I think it is a gift to be able to sense that in yourself. When something you are choosing to pay attention to disturbs your inner spirit, that is important. Listen to it. The more we ignore that inner voice, telling us that this is disturbing, the harder it will be to hear that voice and after a while that voice will disappear. We are called to take care of what we hear, to be mindful of what we bring into our minds and into our hearts.
In Hebrews we read “let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water” (Heb.10:22).We are able to attain this when we are consciously and intentionally deciding what to expose our hearts to. Often times this means that we have to do a self-examination – what are the things in my life that help me think, act and talk like Jesus and what are the things that stop me from doing that. Our task then is to increase the good and eliminate the bad. This may lead to some hard choices and breaking of deeply-entrenched habits but if it brings us closer to Christ, it is worth the effort, the challenge and the hard work. Is there something filling your life with a noise that blocks out Christ? Do you have the courage to turn it off?
- Amanda Grimm