4th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B - Listen to His Voice & “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”

An Irish monk was once asked by a young priest on retreat at his monastery in Ireland, “How are you, Father?” He replied, “There is still a bit of the devil in me!” It sounds funny but it expresses a truth about all of us, that ‘there is still a bit of the devil in us’, because we have not yet overcome our attachment to sin. The claim would certainly be true of the man with the unclean spirit in this weekend’s Gospel (Mark 1:21-28). He was in the synagogue on the Sabbath, so he was obeying the Torah. Perhaps to outward appearances at least, everything was in order. However, inside he needed healing.

The man suddenly flipped when Jesus started teaching. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus’ teaching, the Word of God, challenged him and revealed what he was. The Word likewise challenges us and reveals to us our areas for growth as prayer and spiritual readings can help reveal our areas for improvement. Sometimes a daily interaction with a loved one or a major event in our lives (and our subsequent reaction to the interaction or event) may reveal a weakness and lack of holiness to be addressed in ourselves. In whatever way our areas for growth become clear, such moments are a grace, giving us opportunities for the Lord to work on us, heal us and transform us into the holy and wholesome person we are called to be.

Such a moment occurred in the Gospel. Jesus cleansed the man of the evil spirit, but it was not easy for the man. The spirit ‘convulsed’ the man and came out of him with a loud cry. If overcoming our attachment to sin were easy, we would all be saints by now! The problem is that we don’t want to face the spiritual “convulsing,” necessary for spiritual growth. It is easier to remain as we are than to let go of our ego and attachment to sin. The Psalm of the weekend (Psalm 95:7-9) gives a warning about not letting go of our egos:

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”

This week, let us focus on listening to God’s voice, letting go of our ego and using moments in our daily lives to find areas of spiritual growth for ourselves that help bring us closer to the Lord.

In honour of this Gospel reading, we would like to share our latest video, "I Heard The Voice of Jesus Say", a well known hymn whose verses align beautifully to scripture. Composed by Horatius Bonar and set to the hymn tune of Kingsfold, the hymn was one of the over 600 hymns he wrote to address the needs of the churches he served.

Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below: