Psalm 95 tells us: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.“
There is really two things to reflect upon here. First is hearing his voice. I believe God speaks to us often. The problem is we fill our world with so much noise, we can’t hear him when he speaks. There are so many distractions that prevent us from paying attention to the sound of his voice. He speaks to us in many ways: through the scriptures, through a homily at Mass, through a groupie, through a meditation. Do we hear him ?
Second, we harden our hearts in many different ways to his message. Maybe we harden our hearts because we refuse to forgive someone. Perhaps we harden our hearts by choosing sin in a tempting situation. Perhaps we talk down about someone who thinks differently than ourselves, especially if they profess to be a Catholic. Yet in all of this, Jesus continues to love us and continues to give us the grace we need to soften our hearts.
Even after reflecting upon these words, don’t be surprised if you experience some form of opposition to Jesus in your heart today. Maybe you are having a hard time focusing during prayer at home or at Mass. Maybe there is an opportunity to help someone, but you choose otherwise. If you hear his voice today, allow his love to prevent you from hardening your heart. Your weakness, your doubt, is no match for his love !
St. Joseph, pray for us !
DeColores, Deacon Doug
Join us in prayer!
We encourage you to join us as we recite the Holy Rosary every night at 8PM! On Wednesdays, we pray the rosary via Zoom with the rector and rectora.
Resources for those not able to attend Mass
Daily Readings in English and Spanish from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Prayers, readings for Mass, and additional spiritual readings are available at:
“Give Us This Day” a digital file of their periodical, which includes daily Mass texts. Visit GUTD.net and select “Digital” in the upper right of the screen.
