FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Oh, That Today You Would Hear His Voice!

God promised the Israelites that He would raise up a prophet for them, one who would be like Moses. A prophet is a mediator between God and the people who need to hear (and obey) what God has to say, because hearing God’s actual voice is terrifying. There were many prophets after the time of Moses, yet not always did the people heed and obey God’s word as proclaimed to them.

Jesus taught as “one having authority,” not relying upon traditional interpretations of the Torah or quotations from past teachers, as did other rabbis. He spoke with the authority of God, the good news that went beyond tradition. He was/is the prophet promised so long ago. His message was from God; He knew whereof He spoke and He believed and lived what He taught.

The unclean spirit we hear about in today’s Gospel recognized the authority of Jesus and obeyed Him, leaving the man even though he was unwilling. We, too, can be possessed by unclean spirits. Jesus has the authority to call out the demons and to change our lives. Jesus calls out to them – selfishness, greedy obsessions, comfortable attitudes and ways of doing things, self-satisfaction, prejudices and hate, addictions, fears, unwillingness to forgive – and says, “Be quiet and come out.” We must be willing to listen and to allow them to obey and leave us. That requires some effort on our part. We must be willing to be “convulsed” and to be changed, to be “Jesus-possessed” and not “demon-possessed.”

“Oh, that today you would hear his voice”: then we can sing joyfully, come into his presence with thanksgiving, bow down and worship and kneel before the LORD who has made us. 

–Monica Thursam

Send Us Forth are reflections written by St. Matthew parishioners and friends.