20240307 HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS
07 March 2024, Thursday, 3rd Week of Lent
First reading |
Jeremiah 7:23-28 © |
Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God
These were my orders: Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Follow right to the end the way that I mark out for you, and you will prosper. But they did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts, refused to face me, and turned their backs on me. From the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, day after day I have persistently sent you all my servants the prophets.
But they have not listened to me, have not paid attention; they have grown stubborn and behaved worse than their ancestors. You may say all these words to them: they will not listen to you; you may call them: they will not answer. So tell them this, “Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God nor take correction. Sincerity is no more, it has vanished from their mouths.”
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 94(95):1-2,6-9 © |
O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord.
O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Come in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us:
for he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.’
O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Gospel Acclamation | Ezk18:31 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Or: | Joel2:12-13 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –
come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Gospel | Luke 11:14-23 © |
Know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you
Jesus was casting out a devil and it was dumb; but when the devil had gone out the dumb man spoke, and the people were amazed. But some of them said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.’ Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.
‘He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.’
HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JER 7:23-28; PS 95:1-2,6-9; LK 11:14-23]
It is significant that the bible associates listening with the heart. Most of us listen with the ears of the intellect. We use our intellect to grasp what is said. We use our intellect to judge what we hear. When what we hear does not agree with our heart, that is, what we want, we rationalize so that we can justify our actions. This is what the world is doing. In the name of reason, the world seeks to change the existing moral and social norms of society, whether it is marriage, gender, abortion or euthanasia. In the name of reason and self-defence, nations, too, have initiated wars against other nations that threaten their security, killing thousands of innocent civilians and vulnerable elderly and children. Indeed, we can justify everything we want to do under the sun. This is what relativism is all about. We relativize all our decisions and justify it by contextualizing the situation. It is not based on any objective criteria but on personal preference. What is underscored today is the rights of the individual person without due regard for the rights of society.
A case in point is the reaction of the people in today’s gospel. They were not ready to listen to the Lord. Their hearts were hardened. They saw but they did not perceive the truth. Obviously, they witnessed Jesus casting out a dumb devil out of the man because he spoke. And they were even amazed at what they saw. But instead of welcoming God’s messenger of mercy, “some of them said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils’, others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven.” In both instances, the questions are illogical as the Lord exposed their fallacious argument. Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand?” Indeed, why would Satan destroy his own minions? He would be destroying himself. The devils are working in league with each other, all seeking to destroy humanity. However, they never questioned their religious leaders who also performed exorcisms. Jesus asked, “Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out?”
They were biased towards their religious leaders but demanded signs from our Lord. Clearly, their hearts were hardened. They could see the miracles of our Lord. But they were not receptive and found all sorts of excuses to discredit our Lord and His healing and liberating powers. Indeed, the Lord knew that their hearts were hardened. No matter what He said or what He did, if a person was not receptive, nothing could change them. This was what the Lord said to them later about them asking for a sign. “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” (Lk 11:29) Then in the parable of the rich man, Abraham replied to the rich man’s request to send a warning to his brothers. But Abraham replied, “‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'” (Lk 16:30f)
So, too, the people during the time of Jeremiah. They were stubborn and refused to take heed of the exhortation of the prophet. Jeremiah wanted to save the people from being attacked by the Babylonians. He wanted to save the nation from being overrun by the Babylonian army. But they had to remain united as one people and observe the Covenant of the Lord, living in integrity, honesty, and taking care of the poor. But the political leaders corroborated with the priests and the false prophets in denouncing Jeremiah as a traitor. They sought to put him to death because they did not want to admit that they needed repentance and conversion of life. For them to be saved, the Lord said, “Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Follow right to the end the way that I mark out for you, and you will prosper.” Jeremiah spoke the truth, but the truth was difficult for them to accept.
However, this was not something new. Israel had always been disobedient since the time they left Egypt. This was the indictment of the Lord. “They did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts, refused to face me, and turned their backs on me from the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, day after day I have persistently sent you all my servants the prophets. But they have not listened to me, have not paid attention; they have grown stubborn and behaved worse than their ancestors. You may say all these words to them: they will not listen to you; you may call them: they will not answer. ‘Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God nor take correction. Sincerity is no more, it has vanished from their mouths.'”
But what could prevent us from listening to His voice? We must be honest about our real intentions for rejecting the voice of God and His commandments. We can give all sorts of excuses and reasons if we do not want to listen to His voice. If it is ignorance, that sin can be forgiven, although we would have to pay the price for it by suffering the consequences. Sometimes our hearts are hardened because we have been hurt or disappointed before and so we lack trust in Him. We feel that He does not care. But more often than not, it is because we want things our ways. We want God to pander to our selfish and self-centred desires. We are motivated by convenience, pleasure, career, wealth, position, power and glory. We reject the voice of God when our worldly values clash with the values of God. At the end of the day, let us face the truth about our real motives. We do not want to follow the ways of God. We are not willing to share what we have. We are not concerned about the well-being of our fellowmen and the future generations. We just want to have a good life for ourselves and to get it by all means, even using unfair practices, discrimination, oppression and dishonesty. We want God to give us what we want, even when it is not good for us eventually. So at the end of the day, it boils down to pride, believing that we know best and better than God!
So, what is needed is to listen to our heart, not our head. Let us search deep into our hearts. “O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the desert when your fathers put me to the test; when they tried me, though they saw my work.'” Even though the Hebrews saw the mighty works of God when He delivered them from the slavery of the Egyptians; helped them to cross the Red Sea dry-shod, guided them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire, fed them with manna, meat and water in the desert. Yet they repeatedly disobeyed God and His commandments. In spite of all that they saw, whenever their lives were inconvenienced, they would grumble against Moses, His servant, for bringing them out to the desert to languish and die.
This is why, to listen to the voice of God, we must recognize our place in the world. We must recognize that God is the author of life. As the responsorial psalm invites us to proclaim each morning, “Come, ring out our joy to the Lord; hail the rock who saves us. Let us come before him, giving thanks, with songs let us hail the Lord. Come in; let us bow and bend low; let us kneel before the God who made us: for he is our God and we the people who belong to his pasture, the flock that is led by his hand.” We do not have all the answers to life. We must not think that we can manage this world without the guidance of God. Recognizing God and accepting His word is the way to find life.
We must place our trust in the Lord who is that strong man who can free us from our enemies. The Lord assured us, “But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil. ‘He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.'” We must stand by the Lord and with Him. So long as we are on the side of the Lord, no matter what happens, we know that God will see us through. He will protect us from our enemies and from eternal damnation. Only with Jesus in us, can we resist the temptations of the world, and the threats against us when we seek to act according to the truth. Let the Word of God be the armour against all the wiles of the world and be the light for our path.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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