Reading 1
Rv 10:8-11
I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me.
Then the voice spoke to me and said:
“Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.
He said to me, “Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it.
In my mouth it was like sweet honey,
but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.
Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
Ps 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
Responsorial PsalmR. (103a)
How sweet to my taste is your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Gospel
Lk 19:45-48
Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
“It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves.”
And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words.
Meditation: Revelation 10:8-11
“Take the scroll … and swallow it.” (Revelation 10:8,9)
With this command, John is told to take in God’s word and make it his own—a word that he must embrace and then proclaim to his people. Curiously, the word tastes sweet in his mouth, but it turns sour in his stomach. Why? Because the initial encounter with God is always exciting, but when the word we receive calls for repentance or issues a stern judgment, it is hard to hear. And it is even harder to speak!
While this sweet-and-sour aspect of God’s word is interesting, what is more amazing is that God would speak to us at all—or, to put it more precisely, that we would be capable of receiving such wisdom and grasping it with our fallen, human minds! But that’s how much God loves us. He can’t stop reaching out to us, showing us his will and his wisdom.
Our God is infinitely creative in speaking to us. In addition to Scripture—which is obvious—he uses many other ways of getting through to our hearts and minds. We may hear his word in a homily or in the prayers and responses at Mass. Sometimes words we have heard and spoken time and time again strike us in a fresh way. Or God may speak to us in a song we happen to hear on the radio. Sometimes we become aware of God in the circumstances of our daily lives, inviting us to trust him or prompting us to reach out to someone in need.
In order to appropriate these words of God, we need to take time to let them sink in. We may need to “chew on” a thought for a while before we understand what it means or how to put it into practice.
As soon as you recognize God speaking to you, stop and listen. Then return often during the day to that word. Turn it over and examine it in different lights. Put it into your own words. Try applying it in different situations. Don’t be afraid if it excites you or convicts you. Let God’s word work. Ask, “How would I live if I really believed this? Then do it!”
“Jesus, you are the living Word of God. I invite you to come into my life today. Let your words come alive in me and transform me in your image.”
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