Hear and Act
26 September 2017
One of the things I love about our faith as Christians is that we believe in a God who speaks. Wonderfully, He has chosen to communicate with us.
God’s self-communication comes through a number of means: the intricacy, beauty and majesty of the created universe, the hunger for transcendence in the human heart, the unfolding history of His relationship with the Jewish people starting with the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), through Moses, the kings and the prophets all the way to John the Baptist. God’s self-communication comes to its high water mark in the person of Jesus himself, the Word made flesh.
Whether it is through the dynamic of God’s word spoken through the journey and experience of the community of believers (we call this ‘Tradition’) or the authoritative, written record of that unfolding revelation (‘Scripture’), the powerful truth is that God is revealing His life and character to us.
In other words, God is speaking. His broadcast is always on the air. The question for us is: Are we tuned in? Are we listening?
The kicker line in today’s gospel is:
‘My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.’
I’m sure there was no disrespect towards his beautiful mother in his heart when Jesus, told that his ‘mother and brothers’ wanted to see him, said these words. Rather, Jesus’ words highlight the very thing that Luke recounted a few chapters earlier: Mary herself was the remarkable human being who, having had her whole life turned upside down by none less than the archangel Gabriel, declared, “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1.38). Mary is the one who perfectly fits the model of discipleship Jesus is proposing: Hear the word of God, act on what you hear!
Let’s pray today for the grace to follow Mary’s example. God is speaking His word over your life today. Hear and act.