Reflection for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

A phone chimes, a car horn honks, countless one-sided conversations being “shared” by anyone close enough to hear.  Radio advertisements, TV commercials, billboards, window advertisements each telling you what you need. Newspapers, magazines, social media, evening news broadcasts layering their own version of truth with the underlying conviction that they are right and that you must believe it too.

Noise.  It is all noise.  Family, friends, strangers we pass on the street voice their opinions on your life, even if they don’t know all the details, can seem like more noise too.  And if that is the case, what are we to do when we are going through some hardship or struggle?  When we feel the pain of loss or guilt or misunderstanding?  When a relationship or friendship we once counted on seems tentative at best?  What is it that we need in that moment?  Where do we find the truth?  Who do we turn to? What must we believe?

In today’s first reading, Jeremiah’s situation shines some light on this. (Jer 20:10-13)

“I hear the whisperings of many […] All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine.”

For Jeremiah, in the moment when he could have been completely overwhelmed by the situation in which he found himself in, he called out to the Lord and the Church urges us to do the same as we pray today’s Responsorial Psalm, “Lord, in your great love, answer me.” (Psalm 69:14c).

That moment, when the prayer releases from our lips, can be filled with joy and hope or hesitation and uncertainty, but we must say to ourselves, “The LORD is with me” and with renewed confidence remind Him “to you I have entrusted my cause.”

This confidence is not unfounded.  God will always be there to guide each us and care for us.  In the Gospel of Matthew 10:26-33, Jesus tells us to “fear no one; . . . even all the hairs of your head are counted.”  And if He cares that much, He certainly cares enough to find us when we are feeling lost or alone, struggling or misunderstood, and will answer our prayer for help or guidance.

In a world with so much noise, it can be hard to truly hear God when He speaks to our hearts… to your heart, but know that He does.

He hears you when you call out to Him.  He answers you when the timing is right.  So, when you’re struggling to hear Him, remember to take a breath. It has been said that God “writes straight with crooked lines.”

So, whether God is guiding you through the noise or around the noise, know that

He is with you…

He is answering you…

He Loves you and will never leave you.

Have a blessed Sunday.