Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
The Liturgy of the Hours begins each day with a brief "Invitatory." The form is familiar to any Catholic, a psalm with a verse response repeated several times. Although there are several recommended psalms, (67, 100, or 24) the preferred is Psalm 95, the one we read at Mass today.
It's a challenging psalm because it begins with confident joy, "Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us." Following verses remember the majesty of God the creator who "holds in his hands the depths of the Earth and the highest mountains as well. He made the sea it belongs to him, the dry land too, for it was formed by his hand."
The psalmist invites us to "bow down and worship... for he is our God and we are his people, the flock he shepherds."
In the seventh verse the mood changes abruptly, "Today, listen to the voice of the Lord. Do not grow stubborn as your fathers did in the wilderness!" And the psalm closes with a severe warning, "I swore in my anger, they shall not enter into my rest."
It seems our relationship with God is always laced with glad promises and fraught with dire threats.
Today's readings and, indeed, the entire season of Lent reminds us of this complex relationship. The saints assure us of God's deep and abiding love for us. Saint Francis saw terrible things in his brief life and yet he peered deeply into the heart of God and said, "You are good, all good, supreme good!"
Psalm 95 and the Season of Lent remind us of the darkly complex mystery of our human nature.
The Prophet Jeremiah, in the seventeenth chapter agonized over this mystery:
More tortuous than anything is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?
I, the LORD, explore the mind
and test the heart,
Giving to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their deeds.
A decadent society will dismiss the Church and its "anxious concern for salvation." They prefer to believe life is not so difficult and the good life is not so inaccessible. They enjoy the security of gated communities and many layers of fences, locks, guards, police, cyber defenses, coast guards, navies, air forces and armies. Hidden among these barriers they might never suspect the treachery in their own neighbors and families, much less the hypocrisy in their own hearts. Their walls appear impenetrable until -- as does happen -- they vanish overnight.
The righteous are profoundly aware of their own unrighteousness. They welcome the gift of freedom with its anxiety, and the gift of faith with its assurance of forgiveness.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.