Isaiah 50:4-7
As we begin Holy Week the Church invites us on a journey. This week is like no other in the year. Spread before us in the liturgies each day is the story of our salvation. We are invited to find ourselves in the scriptural stories.
The First Reading for today from Isaiah can be a helpful starting place for the week.
‘The Lord has given me
a disciple’s tongue.
So that I may know how to reply to the wearied
he provides me with speech.
Each morning he wakes me to hear,
to listen like a disciple.
The Lord has opened my ear.
For my part, I made no resistance,
neither did I turn away.
I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who tore at my beard;
I did not cover my face against insult and spittle.
The Lord comes to my help,
so that I am untouched by the insults.
So, too, I set my face like flint;
I know I shall not be shamed.’
The servant knows himself as a disciple. Each day his task is to hear what God is saying. God has already created in him an openness and a readiness. God has opened the servant’s ear.
Make a conscious effort this week to listen to God in the scriptures and those around you.
What do you most want to hear?