"The Voice of God"

(Psalm 29: 3-9)

The theme chosen for this Holy Hour is: "The Voice of God" This theme arises strongly from both the Sacred Scripture as well as through the life of Saints. The first thought came to my mind was, “does God has a voice?” followed by another question, “Do I hear the voice of God?” immediately I remembered what the Psalmist wrote 4,000 years ago, “The voice of God is powerful, the voice of God is full of majesty”. The scripture writers saw God’s active voice in everything metaphorically:

    In wonders of creation; echoing over the ocean, God’s voice in thundering and lightening, in earthquakes and even in falling of leaves. And literary speaking, God’s voice is in conversation with Noah about the ark, to Abraham telling him that he will be the father of many nations, to Moses in the burning bush, to free the people of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, voice of God to Samuel inviting him to be his priest.

    The prophet Jeremiah becomes the voice of God, warning people to mend their ways and turn back to God. In the New Testament, Mary and Joseph heard the voice of God through the angel, the voice of God was heard at the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. “He is my beloved Son I am well pleased with Him.”, and at the time of transfiguration “He is my beloved Son listen to Him”, Paul heard the voice of God on the way to Damascus “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?” There are 100s of examples where people heard the voice of God in the Bible.

    One fact is that those who heard the voice of God changed their ways, their life was filled with God’s grace and blessings. Yes, God does speak to us but in His own ways... Each one of us has heard God’s voice in some way or other and therefore we made this radical decision of leaving our family and surrendering our lives in the hands of God and for the service of God’s people. Unfortunately the voice of God in many instances is being lost in the noise of this modern world. The voice of materialism, consumerism to possess more and more... the voice of hedonism (self-satisfaction) indicating us to pleasure for the sake of pleasure. The Voice of selfishness, egoism is rising within us.

     In the Gospel, we can see that the Herod had a choice either to listen to the voice of God or man’s voice. John the Baptist was God’s voice and Herodias was the voice of the world. For reasons he knew best, he chose to listen to the worldly voice. We know the consequences he had to face in his life because he refused to hear the voice of God. There are many voices crying around us today, drowning out to God’s voice. The hard fact is that it is not enough to hear God’s voice just once but we need to hear it constantly, every moment of our lives. The second hard fact is that the voice of God can be listened only by those willing to listen. When the king of France complained to Joan of Arc; “Oh, God’s voice, your voices... Why can’t I hear any voices?” The condemned woman replied, “You would if you listen”. Unless I have a disposition to listen, I will not listen God’s voice.

    Let us look at the life of St. John Marie Vianney. I think he did just 3 things in his life as a priest: 

1) Praying 

2) Preaching 

                       3) listening to confessions. 

In praying he listened to the voice of God. In preaching and confessions he became the voice of God to others. When he was appointed as a chaplain at Ars, on the first day of his arrival, he was almost alone in the church celebrating the Holy Mass. No parishioners were interested in participating in the Eucharist. But a few days later some of his parishioners came out of curiosity to see what this priest is here to do in their parish; people found him bow downed in prayer before the tabernacle as though he really saw someone. They found him in the same posture, morning, afternoon and evening. In deep prayer, he was listening to the voice of God who guided him to radically change the lives of people. After hearing the voice, he became the voice of God to his people. 

In confessional, where he is supposed to have spent 11 to 16 hours a day, he became God’s voice by opening the treasure of forgiveness to every person. By being the voice of God, he brought even the worst sinner to be embraced by God’s love and mercy. He became a man consumed by the confessional. By becoming a voice of God through preaching, Fr. Vianney’s words were simple, but words with fire, unforgettable words that won the heartfelt admiration of the people. The people of Ars were busy in drinking and dancing, and some in illicit activities; St. John Marie Vianney by becoming the voice of God changed their lives completely.

    If prophet Isaiah would be stubborn to listen the voice of God, he would not able to say, here I am Lord. If prophet Amos would not have listen the voice of God he would not raise his voice against the social justice. Our St. Francis was also immersed in the materialistic world, living a luxurious life. But when he heard the voice of God, he gave up everything and became the voice of the poor, lepers, marginalized and abandoned. He prayed day and night and listen the voice of God. If St. Francis would not have listen the voice of God none of us would be here. If Mother would not have listened the voice of God the plan of salvation for the whole world would not have been completed.

    Thus in this critical epoch we have been called by God in a radical way. We ought to listen the voice of God, following the example of the saints and above all Jesus. Then we would be able to listen the cry of the poor in this epidemic situation where the whole world is affected by the Covid-19. People are suffering from different kinds of diseases and sicknesses. People are frustrated and fascinated in the dangerous situation.

 1) Now let us ask ourselves, do we hear God’s voice constantly? 

2) Or are we busy in listening to the voices of this world? 

3) Do we spend enough time in prayer? 

4) Do I respect and visit the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist          with great devotion? 

5) If we are distracted because of the various problems what is the         best way to listen the voice of God?

The best way to listen the voice of God is to pray unceasingly. During the reflective meditative reflection a preacher has delineated that the prayer is the language of silence the prayer helps us to have intimacy with God. Because when we practice the prayer the pride is abounded and the hope is lifted up and God listen to us and speaks to us. Furthermore the speaker denoted that the very nature of Christian prayer is to spend time with God.  Thus, the prayer is the practice of the presence of God. The Christian prayer is the gift from God and in the relation we become aware of the presence of God.

He also explained that the Christian spirituality is a spiral. A person experiences that he or she is weak and he needs to be stronger in his or her spirituality.  No one can feel proud that he or she is perfect. Because the spiral expression of Christian spirituality will remind that we as human beings are weak. We need that assistance of the Holy Spirit the prime agent of our prayer life. Therefore, in the spiral expression of the Christian spirituality we have three stages. 

The first one is: purgative stage:  which known for the beginners. The stage of purification and cleansing ones soul. At this stage a person can be distracted and mind can be deviated.

The second stage is: the illuminative or proficient: At this stage first cannot perceive or understand. There will be confusion, dryness and darkness. The mind is not equipped to receive. But gradually mind will perceive because it is the gift from God. 

The third stage is: unitive or the way of the perfection. At this stage the dark night of senses are removed and there is perfect unity between God and person. The speaker demonstrated that according to the great theologian the veil of the flesh has to removed then there will be perfect unity. When there is perfect unity a person would be able to listen the voice of God. This what the saints adopted and listen the voice of God and became the voice to the people to proclaim the message of God. Because of this intimate relation, perfect unity they were able to raise their voice against injustice in the society. Likewise we too are called to have perfect unity through theses stages and remove the veil of the flesh to converse with God and to listen Him.  Let us ask Jesus be with us and strengthen us so that we may always listen to the voice of God and be that voice to everyone around us. Amen (Redacted from the homily bas on (Jer 26:11-16, 24 and Mt 14:1-12).