Hearing God's Voice Together

The Lectionary (the Church’s official book of readings) we use was put together following the Second Vatican Council to fulfill the mandate to utilize more scripture in the liturgy. On Sundays, the first reading and the Gospel are thematically connected. The refrain of the responsorial psalm is what those putting the lectionary together saw as the connecting idea between the two readings.

This past Sunday we sang, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” If one only looks at the Ezekiel and Matthew readings, the takeaway might be just what a nice thing it is that when we gather together and God shows up. But the responsorial psalm response helps focus in on something more profound. When we’re alone and isolated, it becomes a lot easier to become hard of heart. We turn inward, we lose context. We quickly become paranoid, defensive, and wary of others. It becomes difficult to discern the voice of God. Instead, created in the likeness of God, we need relationships, we need a community. We especially need this community to discern God’s voice more clearly.

Notice the first verses of the psalm. “Come, let US sing joyfully to the Lord…. Come, let US bow down in worship.” While God certainly relates to us individually, he calls us each Sunday to come together as a community to hear his voice, worship him, and be nourished as one family at his altar.