God wants to speak to us, are we listening? Today’s first reading from Hebrews proclaims how God has spoken to us in the Old Testament and now speaks to us in a unique way in Jesus Christ.
“In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son…”
What is it that God wants to say to us? Jesus proclaims God’s message, the “Gospel of God:” “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” What God wants to say to us is that he is near to us, he is at hand. Jesus proclaims that God has taken the initiative and has come into the world and come into our lives. God and God’s Kingdom is at hand. Jesus invites us to “repent.” The word “repent” means to turn. Jesus invites us to turn to God and accept his invitation and to enter his Kingdom by following the way of Jesus and doing the Father’s Will.
God speaks to us in the Sacred Scripture and especially in the words and deeds, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What does God say to us? The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation declares:
“Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God out of the abundance of His love speaks to men and women as friends and lives among them, so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself.” (Dei Verbum #2).
God speaks to us as friends (amicus) and invites into fellowship (societatem). Did you ever think of God as your friend? God is telling us he wants to be our friends and to be in fellowship with us. We receive this same invitation in the Greeting at mass: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The gift and grace of God’s love invites us into communion or fellowship with God.
Today we begin the first week of “Ordinary Time.” After all the excitement and joy of Christmas and Epiphany we are called to respond to God’s initiative in our ordinary and daily lives. Jesus tells us it is time to turn to God and accept his invitation: “Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” God is speaking, am I listening?
Image: “078 Jesus teaching the People” by fz1844 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.