19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A
BE SENSITIVE TO HIS VOICE
Does God still speak to us today?
Coz, there are many times when we can appreciate a direct word from the Lord.
When we need to decide or just some comfort, we want to be assured that the directions we’re getting have the seal of divine approval.
But how do we read God’s mind, how de we hear his voice, how do we see his plan for our lives today?
In today’s Gospel (Mt 14), Peter and the apostles had a very clear sign from the Lord. And what a reassuring sight it was!
Jesus was walking on the water, enough to convince the apostles they were in the right company. God was on their side. Miracles come true!
In fact, Peter nearly became part of the sign. He almost walked on water himself, until he slipped and sank!
How we wish it were that easy today. Praying and then receiving a miracle at once. Asking and getting a response immediately. But no; today as it was before, miracles are exceptional occurrences. Marvelous signs are rare.
But God continues to speak to those with a sensitive heart and attentive spirit, much like the experience of Elijah in the first reading (1 Kings 19). God’s voice, his presence, was felt by Elijah, not in some grand manifestation.
God visited him and spoke a message to him through a “tiny whispering sound,” a soft sound almost inaudible, but for a person who is sensitive to how God works using the little, the humble, the insignificant.
I remember a woman who lost her husband to cancer. As a widow, she was always asking herself if she had cared enough for her husband or if he has finally reached his heavenly destination.
One night she slept with all these questions in her mind and woke up the following morning to receive a text message from an unknown sender.
The message simply said: “I want you to be happy so l left.” Later on she realized it came from a young friend who may have sent it to her by accident or by mistake.
But the words reassured her that her husband is in a peaceful place and she should be happy too.
I remember too a priest who was troubled in his vocation. With some he friends he went on a pilgrimage to a church too far from his place, where nobody knew him.
Coming out of the church, a boy suddenly ran up to him, took his hand and looking up to him said, “Father” while he kissed his hand. Then just as fast as he appeared, the boy very quickly ran away. Dressed in civilian clothes, in a strange place where he had no acquaintances, the priest came to see the boy as the Lord’s instrument of encouragement and peace.
When you want to hear God’s voice, prepare your heart to be sensitive to his humble visits to your life and to the little ways he speaks to you through the most unexpected means or instruments.
(Pls share with a friend…)
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