Thursday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 308

The Holy Spirit says:

    Oh, that today you would hear his voice,

        “Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion

        in the day of testing in the desert,

    where your ancestors tested and tried me

        and saw my works for forty years.

Today's reading from the Letter to the Hebrews cites Psalm 95, a passage which we read daily in the Liturgy of the Hours. It is the "Invitatory Prayer" which follows the first words of the day, "O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise." Other psalms may be used, especially Psalm 24, 67, or 100; but Psalm 95 is the default. The only one I have memorized since forty years ago. 

It is also the psalm of today's responsorial psalm. It recommends itself to our daily use with its joyous opening, 

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;

cry out to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before him with a song of praise,

joyfully sing out our psalms.

That spirit holds as we consider Our Lord,

For the LORD is the great God
the great king over all gods,
Whose hand holds the depths of the earth;
who owns the tops of the mountains.
The sea and dry land belong to God,
who made them, formed them by hand.

Then we hear more of God's gracious welcome as this new day begins:

Enter, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us
For he is our God,
we are the people he shepherds,
the sheep in his hands.

So far this psalm expresses wonderful happiness, inviting even those who've not had their morning joe yet to be glad and rejoice in the Lord.

But then it takes a darker tone and dives into the unhappy history we share with our beloved God:

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on the day of Massah in the desert.
There your ancestors tested me;
they tried me though they had seen my works.
Forty years I loathed that generation;
I said: “This people’s heart goes astray;
they do not know my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my anger:
“They shall never enter my rest.”

The Letter to the Hebrews recalls this ominous conclusion to Psalm 95, and adds a severe warning, we should strive to enter into that rest.

Christians, especially Catholics, are never far from this practice of penance, the awareness of our sins. 

Taking a hint from East Asian religions, many counselors, advisors, and gurus encourage us to be mindful, alert, and aware. Our universal religion goes farther down that road; we should be mindful of God's beatific presence at all times, aware of our internal tendencies to sin, apprehensive of external temptations, and alert to opportunities for generosity, courage, and compassion.

The Lord's Prayer also reminds us of the perilous proximity of sin as we often pray, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." 

We can read Psalm 95 as a gloomy warning from an opinionated, judgemental god; I prefer to hear it as that warning every parent gives their children, "Be careful! I love you. Don't forget that!" No one can know how many times children have heard that warning in their ears as they considered an opportunity, and thought better of it. 

Our God cares intensely and wants only good for us. We are so glad of that!