Obedience is the fundamental disposition of the Christian disciple. The word obedience comes from the latin – oboedire which means to listen to, to give ear to, to heed, to pay attention.
The Old Testament prophets constantly remind the Jewish people to listen to the Word of God. Standing at the steps of the Jerusalem Temple, the Prophet Jeremiah instructed: “Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord.” Certainly we enter in through the doors of the Church, to hear the word of God, to incline our ear to God’s word. One of Israel’s most beloved Scripture passages, known as the Shema, is a command to listen: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is God. Love God with your whole heart.” We find the same command on the lips of Jesus in the Gospels.
St. James is clear in our reading today, that Christians must not allowing God’s Word to go in one ear and out the other. Christian discipleship requires an obedience that hears and heeds, listens and acts. “Be doers of the word and not hearers only”. What we hear in Church, what we read in the Scriptures must be put into practice.
One of my favorite parts of the Ordination Rites, is when the deacon kneels in front of the Bishop who hands him the Book of the Gospels and says, “receive the word of God whose herald you have become: believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” All of us are to put into practice what we read in the Scriptures.
James explains too that in order for the Word of God to really take root in us, we must put away filth—the filth and the evil excesses of the world. A degenerate lifestyle, a love of sin, blocks our ability to hear the word, it hinders the transforming power of the word.
Rather, we must cultivate our souls to be rich soil, as the Lord teaches, that the word may take deep root in our souls so that it can bear fruit.
May we be not just hearers of the word but doers of the word, acting upon God’s word by striving for virtue and living in fraternal charity for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.
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That the Word of God may take ever deeper root in our hearts, minds, and souls.
That the Holy Spirit may direct the appointment of a new Bishop for the Church of Cleveland.
That young people may seek Christ amidst all the filth and evils of the world, and for the protection of innocent human life from evil.
For healing for all those suffering disease, especially diseases without known cures, for the people of China and all people afflicted by the Coronavirus, and all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, and For the Holy Father’s prayer intentions for this month: that the needs of migrants and victims of human trafficking may be heard and acted upon.
For the dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Holy mass is offered.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith, we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.
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