Some
Thoughts on the Liturgy
LISTEN
TO THE PROPHETS
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Those of you who listen to the music of what are called
“classic songs” might identify this story
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the man talked to darkness calling him an old friend
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and he talked in particular about a vision that he had seen
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this was the vision: he was walking along on a cold and
damp day, and suddenly there was a flash of light, touching
everyone, revealing what they were doing
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people were talking without saying anything
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people were hearing without listening
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people were making great speeches that no one paid any
attention to
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and so, he tried to tell them about his vision, about what
they were doing
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he shouted that there is a cancer here
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the cancer is that you are not listening to one another
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but no one heard him, all he got were silent stares
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instead, the people bowed and prayed to their own
creations: their TV sets, their bombs, their big executive
office buildings, their pleasures, their power
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and, as they were doing it, suddenly there was a prophet
that somehow appeared and the prophet simply said:
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since you won’t listen, at least look at what you are
doing
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look at the evil and drugs, the poverty, people hurting
other people
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the people paid attention for a second, but then they went
right back to what they were doing, to their “silence”
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what the prophet said was an insignificant whisper in the
midst of what real life was
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“The Sound of Silence” by Paul Simon
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It is a story that says: we are not listening to the
prophets among us
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listening is the message of the readings today
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but our liturgy today presents two instances of just the
opposite of the song, namely, people who are
listening
to prophets
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Ezra and Nehemiah of the Hebrew Scriptures read from the
book of the law of God, and all the people listened
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Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah, and Luke remarks that
the people looked intently at him, that is they truly
listened
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they heard his message that he was the fulfillment of what
the prophet Isaiah wrote
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the message from the readings is clear for the Christian:
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once you accept and listen to the Lord Jesus, it is a day
for rejoicing
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and your life will change
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The problem comes, of course, in truly accepting and
listening to Jesus
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and we are back to the fundamental problem that “The
Sound of Silence” spoke about—we often are not really
listening to the prophets that have been sent to us
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we are not taking the opportunities God gives us to be the
people we should be
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And the fact is that we have the opportunities
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we have the prophets who talk to us all the time in one
form or another
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first and foremost we have Jesus whom we read about every
Sunday and whom we have accepted as our guide and who gives
us direction on to how to live
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Jesus speaks to us in the Gospels, today telling us that we
are to follow him who is doing the works of God, as Isaiah
was
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telling us to work for peace, but sometimes we choose to
disrupt
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he tells us to forgive, but sometimes we simply say we
won’t
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he tells us to love God, and sometimes we spend very little
time with our God in prayer
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he tells us to build community with everyone, for we are
one body—as Paul said to the Corinthians today—and we
still show prejudice
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Jesus and his teaching are what will direct our lives well
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the question is: are we listening.
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