Be Still And Listen

"You study[a] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (Jn 5:39-40)

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐱𝐨 𝟑𝟐:𝟕-𝟏𝟒

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟔:𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟑 “𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐧 𝟓:𝟑𝟏-𝟒𝟕

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.43)

Was there a time in your life when you felt like you were an outsider even when you were with friends? This usually happens when you have been away for quite some time and you find it hard getting back into the groove especially when you find you have missed a lot of things during your absence.

And do you also remember the time when you left your hometown to move into the big city in search of the proverbial green pastures and was away for quite some time and upon going back home you find the scenery was not as it used to be and almost everything has changed.

We have been told many times that our life is like a journey that takes you from one place to another depending on where you want to go. Or you can choose to remain stationary or stagnant that clips your potential for growth.

But life is more than just a journey. Life is also like a classroom and Saint Augustine of Hippo once wrote: “𝘈𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺.”

From Ash Wednesday up to today and all the way towards our observance of the Holy Week and the Easter Season, we should look at the Liturgical Readings at the Eucharistic Celebrations as lessons and instructions that come in the form of teachings, narratives, testimonies and parables culled from the Sacred Scriptures.

And the whole objective of these lessons in this Season of Lent is to turn us from being an ordinary person who is struggling to survive and whose goal is just to keep his head above the water into an extraordinary person who is capable of swimming against the current of life’s challenges.

From the rising to the setting of the sun, we are faced with trials and problems that put to a test not only our patience but also our own nature. How we deal with life’s challenges will define who we are. We should therefore look at life as one big classroom and we shouldn’t miss or run away from any of these trials and challenges that come our way because God is using these as opportunities that we may ultimately find our way back to the original image and likeness to which we have all been created. To do this, we must search the Scriptures, ponder upon the Word of God, believe in them and obey them for it is only through Christ in whom we can find our salvation.

This was what Jesus kept telling the Scribes and Pharisees, but they failed to recognize the Messiah to whom the Scriptures pointed. Not only did they look for signs but they demanded evidence of his divinity. Their attitude towards Jesus was probably due to their expectation of a conquering king rather than a Messiah dressed as a carpenter’s son.

What comes as a surprise was how the Scribes and the Pharisees could have closed their eyes to the reality that there have been witnesses pointing to Christ beginning from Moses (𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟑:𝟏𝟓; 𝐍𝐮𝐦 𝟐𝟏:𝟗; 𝐍𝐮𝐦 𝟐𝟒:𝟏𝟕; 𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐭 𝟏𝟖:𝟏𝟓).

God also sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah (𝐉𝐧 𝟏:𝟏𝟗, 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟔) and two times God the Father Himself testified to the divine nature of Christ, once at the Jordan River (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟑:𝟏𝟕) and at the Transfiguration (𝐌𝐤 𝟗:𝟕) that was also witnessed by Peter, James and John.

These testimonies would have sufficed but the religious leaders still rejected Christ thus moving him to deliver what appears to be the coup de’ grace when he said: “𝒀𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖! 𝒀𝒆𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔.” (𝒗.45). This was not only a stinging rebuke against the Jews who not only obeyed the Mosaic law but even expanded them into some 613 different rules.

What Jesus was saying here was that the Scribes and Pharisees cannot presume they are saved because they believed in Moses, and they missed that which was important in that Moses himself spoke of Jesus.

There are times when we also find ourselves in the same situation. We bask in the approval of our superiors and peers, of the social circle to which we belong, or to some extent even from our ministry heads, elders and servant leaders.

Like the Pharisees, we too desired the praise of fellow humans, and we have become so focused on our reputation that we have become oblivious to God’s presence. In the busyness of life, we have become preoccupied with the mundane concerns that fill our lives that there are times our hearts and hearing become hardened and unable to understand the word of God. Worst, we pay lip service when we dwell on the Word of God and our pride made us deaf to what God is telling us.

The Sacred Scripture shows us that God reveals himself to the lowly, to those who trust not in themselves, but those who trust God and listen to God's word with an eagerness to learn and to obey. Let us therefore spend this Fourth Week of Lent to search the Sacred Scriptures to enter into the inner sanctum of the mind and heart of God.

Let us invite the Holy Spirit to open our minds, our ears and our hearts that we may hear only his voice and let us pray for the Grace to listen and obey the Word of God for in them we can find our salvation and the power to stand up for God.

As Christ stood as a representation of God, we too who have been created in his own image and likeness (𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟏:𝟐𝟔), was made new by the power of the Holy Spirit (𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟓:𝟏𝟕), and in whom Christ now lives (𝐆𝐚𝐥 𝟐:𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟎) and having been predestined in conformity with the purpose and his will for us (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟏:𝟏𝟏), we too are expected to stand up as ambassadors for Christ (𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟓:𝟐𝟎) because it is through us that Christ is now making his appeal to the world.

But the question that remains is do we really know Jesus? I was in a meeting one time where one of those present was a prominent lay leader of a large renewal movement and he said the problem with the world that we live in today is that many of us don’t recognize the voice of God.

He went on to say that even the strong winds calmed down when it heard the voice of Jesus. So did the waves that buffeted their boat as he and the other Apostles were crossing Lake of Galilee and the fig tree as well. On the other hand, peace will elude those who continue to ignore the voice of God who speaks to us through the Scriptures and through the ordinary events in our lives.

Let this Lenten Season be a time of becoming still so that we can hear the voice of God and listen with our hearts that we may know his Will for us. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 3, 2025)