SUNDAY GOSPEL LECTIO DIVINA

A voice still cries out in the desert. It is the voice of those who have renounced this world, those who refuse to be influenced by the news and trends of our society. It’s the voice of those who put the quest for God before everything else, and as a result offer straight advice that many others are afraid to share. But the more society tries to silence them, the more people seek them out, just like they sought out John the Baptist, because they hunger for truth. If we listen for the truth, we will find the John the Baptists of our time. 

I can see in my own life the foreshadowing of the way it’s going to end. There have been times when I had to let go of a loved one, a habit, a favorite possession, or something else. These occasions reminded me that everything is ephemeral. While it always hurts, it also always resonates with truth because I know it can be no other way, since everything in this world is just passing us by. So it is wise to learn from these occasions, when I lose something, or when something I love ends, or when something I cherish is taken from me. It is in these occasions when God is teaching me to prepare for the very end of everything. And hopefully I was listening enough so it doesn’t hit too hard. Everything in this world was designed to fade away, so we can learn to disconnect ourselves from it all and fix our eyes on heaven. 

It’s been said that heaven is just like here, the only difference being that God’s presence is more perceivable. That is what is missing here on earth, after all: God’s perceivable presence. It is his presence that gives us hope. Even if we don’t believe God exists, we need to believe because without him there is no hope. If we do perceive his presence, it is our duty to share that faith with others, to give them reasons to believe. Some of our reasons could be arrived at by reason itself. Other reasons will be of the heart. As Blaise Pascal said, “The heart has reasons that reason knows not.” Sometimes Jesus’ words don’t make sense. His prophecy today may leave us scratching our heads at times. But our heart knows he is right. Our heart knows that this world and this life are not the only thing God has in store for us. We are waiting. The more we listen to God and for God, the more he will sustain our hope and the easier the waiting will become.

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival

In keeping the faith, there is a great deal of waiting involved. We hold vigils to prove our faithfulness as we wait for the Lord to act, for the Lord to return. I’m sorry, but I can’t help but ponder, what if we are wrong? What if Jesus isn’t coming back, and what if a life of faith ends up being all in vain? Blaise Pascal, a philosopher and mathematician during the Enlightenment, and a Christian, asked the same question. His conclusion is known as Pascal’s Wager, which states:

“ Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.”

Fans of sports teams could wait an entire lifetime for their team to win a championship and never see it happen. Was their hope all in vain? I would say no, of course not. As we wait, we learn what it means to be faithful, hopeful, and patient. We learn how to live with integrity. At the end of our lives, being vigilant in waiting for the Lord will make us into virtuous people because of the very nature of vigilance. God is vigilant in waiting for us to turn to him. By being vigilant as we wait for him, as we wait for anything good, we exhibit one of his qualities.

It is difficult to live for a place we know little about. What is heaven like? We know in heaven we will be in God’s presence. But what is His presence like? Many people have shared a wide range of experiences where they claimed they were touched by God, or heard His voice. How do we know when God is touching us, speaking to us, giving us glimpses of heaven? We know by having a pure heart, free of sin and selfish desires. When we quiet all of the false promises we tell ourselves, we then can more clearly hear and see the beauty of the one true promise which is eternal life with Christ in heaven.

The teachings of Christ are glorious. They are unlike anything the world has ever been given. Christ’s teachings are not just words, they are encapsulations of the truth, goodness, and beauty found throughout all of creation. When we unpack them, the connections we see between them and life in general are endless. This is why it behooves us to listen closely whenever Christ speaks. There will always be something profound in his words that we can learn.

As Jesus prepared to leave the earth, he also prepared to give the gift of the Holy Spirit. Be silent and listen to what the Holy Spirit may be saying to you now.

Now we listen for God’s voice. We recognize it by familiarizing ourselves with Scripture, the Word of God. What is God calling you to do through this Gospel?

The apostles listened to Jesus. They cast their nets on the right side of the boat and pulled in a great catch. Sometimes it all seems too easy: just listen to God and he will provide. So often we want to just do things our own way, thinking we know better. Just listen. Let’s not make things more difficult than they need to be. Sometimes the listening part of lectio divina calls us to be silent and still so we can hear God. Other times it tells us to listen as in being obedient. This time the Lord is telling us to just be obedient. In doing so we will enjoy God’s abundant grace.