Discern His Voice and Be Filled with Joy!

" If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts”

First Reading: Deut. 18:15-20

 "A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said,

'Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.' And the LORD said to me, 'This was well said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him. If any man will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.'

Resp. Psalm: Psalms: 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9

Second Reading: 1^st Cor. 7:32-35

I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.

Gospel: Mark 1:21-28

Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.  In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God! Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him! The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him. His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

Reflection by:

Fely Santiago

" If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts”

God speaks to us in so many ways. It could be through the person closest to us – our husband or wife, if we are married. It could be through our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters, relatives or could be through our friends, officemates, business partners and so on.

In one of the Feasts I attended, Bro. Bo Sanchez mentioned that God could be speaking to us through REALITY! What’s in front of us!! But the question is, do we see it? Or we refuse to see it because we expect something else?

Most often we get so blinded or covered by our biases, our assumptions, our judgments that we fail to listen and see what God wants for us or has in store for us!

There was a story of a man caught in the midst of a storm. The flood started to come and he prayed so hard to God “Lord save me”. Then he heard a government official announcing through their barangay for all people to leave their homes and evacuate as the water will continue to rise but the man did not listen. He continued to pray “Lord save me”. Then the water has risen and he was already at the 2^nd floor of his house when a rescuer in lifeboat called him to get off from his terrace and ride the rescue boat with him but he still did not listen. He just prayed “Lord save me”. The water continued to rise that he has to go up to the top of his roof. Then a helicopter hovered his house, the rescuer shouting that he catch and hold on to the rope to rescue him. But he did not listen. He continue to pray “Lord save me.” Until finally the man drowned and died. When He met the Lord, he questioned Him, “Lord why did You not save me?” The Lord answered, “I did!” I sent you the government official, the life boat and the helicopter! You did not listen!

Sometimes, we are like this man. The Lord already laid down the answers to our prayer in front of us but we are not able to recognize it because we expect something different! Learn to let go of our biases, prejudices, and judgments. Listen to God. Do not be stubborn. Let’s have faith that God will always give what is BEST for us!

 Prayer

Dear Lord, again let me have a child-like trust in You. To always be open to hear as You speak to me. Let me let go of all my prejudices, my biases, my wrong expectations. I know You always want the BEST for me! That’s all I need in Jesus’ name. Amen.