Sunday 28 January 2024

Today is Sunday the 28th of January, beginning the fourth week of Ordinary Time.

The Kyiv Chamber Choir sing the Credo: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” As you start this prayer today, you might like to join in with this declaration of faith; by declaring your faith in God, your Creator and heavenly Father.

Today’s reading is from the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: ‘If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.’ Then the Lord replied to me: ‘They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.’

The prophet who speaks in God’s name, God will uphold. But the one who does not speak God’s word: ‘that prophet will die’. Pretty stark words – a reminder that there is more to being a prophet than pointing eloquently towards the future. Long before the prophet says anything, his or her life has to be built on God’s Word – what God says. And that means learning how to listen. What prevents you from hearing God’s call? What makes you more ready to speak than to listen?

To hear the Word of God well, let alone summon up the courage and commitment to respond to it and act generously, takes time. What sort of short-cuts do you make?

As you listen to the Word of God again, concentrate this time on the rather tired and irritable response of the people. ‘If I hear the Lord’s voice one more time I shall die.’ It’s the never-ending complaint of the people out in the desert, not sure whether they really trust Moses anymore and looking – no doubt – for a quick way to the Promised Land. Do you experience some of this tiredness and irritation?

In praying for the virtues that make the prophet - patience and fortitude as much as an ability to speak with clarity and purpose – first ask the Lord for the willingness to listen. Then perhaps speak to the Lord about what is in you that makes for a sound prophet - and those things in you which make you a rather more dodgy prophet. Can you ask for the wisdom to discern the word of God more clearly in your life?

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.