Thought for the week
12th October 2024 - Be BlessedAs this week draws to a close, knowing it was a busy and diverse week, I reflect on the conversations with the person who carries the burden of illness gracefully, or the people seeking peace, or the dying being thankful for a life well lived, or the child eager for tomorrow, or the grieving wife who believes that there is a time for everything. Or the builder who came to fix a tile, remarking how peaceful it is in church. Great conversations, but I felt drained. I was was praying for energy this morning, and I read Luke 11.
While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Luke 11:27-28
In a few lines they reveal the words of God’s guidance for His blessing. Verses 27-28 reveals much about what makes one “blessed” in life. Specifically, Jesus considers those truly blessed who do two things: “hear the word of God” and then “observe it.”
Though this seems quite obvious when I read it first, I thought it is harder than it seems.
Yet the first step to a blessed life is hearing the Word of God. To “hear” implies that we do much more than become familiar with the Gospels. Hearing means we are not only aware of all that our Lord has revealed, it also means that we commit to understanding all that our Lord requires of us. We have to make time to hear our Lord.
It’s important to understand that the Gospel is alive. Becoming familiar with the Word of God is not the same as reading some ancient book of lessons. Rather, hearing the Word of God means we hear a Person: the Son of God, speaking to us and guiding us each step of our lives. God’s Word is something that must speak to us every moment of every day, inspiring us to do this and avoid that. It is accomplished through a lifelong habit of prayerful communion with our Lord through which we are attentive to His voice always.
Hearing the very Person of the Son of God, the Word made flesh, necessarily implies that we also observe all that He speaks to us. In fact, failure to follow His continuous and gentle command to love will result in us being unable to clearly hear Him at all. We will become confused and will easily become directed by the many other voices in our world, unable to discern the glorious path chosen for us by our Lord.
The greatest less for me this week is that I reject the confusion and anxiety of life, I reject the many other voices of “wisdom” within our world, and listen for His gentle but clear voice. He is always speaking. He is always calling me, he calls you too. He is always present.
Open the eyes of your soul and give Him your full attention. And when you sense Him speaking to you, respond with the utmost generosity and obedience. Doing so will result in you discovering what it means to be truly blessed by our Lord.
Have a blessed week ahead.
Father Paul