Reading 1
Hb 1:12—2:4
Are you not from eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?
I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.
Gospel
Mt 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply,
“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?
Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Meditation: Habakkuk 1:12–2:4
“Then the Lord answered me.” (Habakkuk 2:2)
The prophet Habakkuk was about to be engaged in one of the most amazing conversations in the Bible. It didn’t start out so amazing, though. Habakkuk was perplexed and brokenhearted. Israel had become saturated with violence and injustice, and he wanted to know what God was going to do about it. But as the conversation unfolded, he saw God’s salvation, and the vision filled him with hope.
Do you believe that you can hear God speaking to you? You can, you know. God loves talking with his children. So let’s take a look at how this prophet spoke—and listened—to God so that we can learn from him.
Habakkuk began by coming to God with questions: “Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence while the wicked man devours one more just than himself?” (Habakkuk 1:13). Why did God let things get so bad? He wasn’t afraid to pour out his heart and ask God some hard, even demanding, questions.
But not only is Habakkuk courageous, he is persistent and patient as well: “I will stand at my guard post, and station myself upon the rampart, and keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what answer he will give to my complaint” (Habakkuk 2:1). It wasn’t enough just to make one simple request. He kept on asking. He kept on listening, too, trying to discern God’s voice among all the other voices in and around him. Habakkuk shows us that devotion to prayer is important if only because friendship takes time!
Finally, God answered. But what was the first thing he said? “Write down the vision” (Habakkuk 2:2). Make sure you are keeping track of my words to you, lest you forget them or confuse them. Hold fast to what you have heard, because the vision “still has its time” (2:3). It may not come to pass right away, and you will want to keep alert so that you can spot it when it does happen.
Do you want to begin a lifelong conversation with the Lord? Then follow Habakkuk’s example. Ask him real questions. Take the time to meditate and listen for his answers. And be sure to write down what you think he is saying to you. God is always speaking to us. We just need to learn how to hear him!
“Lord, help me to hear your voice. I want to know friendship with you!”
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