Listen Hear Obey

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today highlight the tension which exists between the Will of God and our will to accommodate our self aggrandizement. The advice of the Book of Deuteronomy is to attend to the path which has and will bring blessing to the community of believers. Moses exhorts the people of Israel to reflect on the path that remaining faithful to the direction of God and listening to the understanding of the Law which is written on their hearts. (Gillick, 2011)

The essence of the process of listening, hearing and obeying is proclaimed by the psalmist as trust in the guidance of the Divine to maintain the relationship regardless of circumstances including ridicule and rejection by other people. The obedience is to the will of God. Gillick reflects on the paradox of the difficulty of the finite temporal being to be aware of doing the will of the Divine. He places the emphasis on having and being faithful to trusting the direction revealed through the experience of hearing the Word through the person of Jesus. The assertion of Paul in Romans 3:28 - "For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law”. Is not a division between faith and works but reflects more of Gillick’s observation that our limitedness as finite creature will give us greater certainty about our trust through faith that we are maintaining the relationship with the Divine than our “personal works for redemption” and “credit” towards the afterlife.

The Gospel of Matthew offers us the promise that listening, hearing and acting on the Word experienced in the intimate relationship with the Divine through the indwelling Spirit and the person of Jesus will strengthen us against the surges of the waters of disconnection and destruction.



Gillick, S. ,. (2011, March 3). Daily Reflection. Retrieved March 6, 2011, from Creighton University Online Ministries : http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/030611.html