“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” –Luke 11:28 | NIV
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. –James 1:22 | NIV
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. –Psalm 119:105 | NIV
We need the Word of God to guide us in this life, especially as we journey towards the home of Our Father. Whether we like it or not, we need this guidance. It is not just the Word as we find it in the Bible or in tradition but the Word Itself: the Incarnate Lord Himself as we find Him lying on the manger and hanging on the Cross or as a “prisoner of love” in our Tabernacles. We need to listen to the Word uttered by preachers and which we read in the Bible; we need to receive the Word in the Sacraments, especially in the Eucharist. We should be strengthened by doing so and enabled to courageously face temptations that menacingly surround us and the various challenges of life as we struggle to keep soul and body alive. How wonderful it would be if we are always aware of this, His loving presence in our life. We would always be recipients not only of His guidance but of His power, His love, His mercy.
On the other hand we would be so weak without Him that we would not even utter the word Father, much less ask for His forgiveness and mercy. But if we are with Him, who can be against us, whom shall we fear? Blessed Jordan Saxony wrote: “There are some whose aim is beauty, who do cultivate their consciences, who do seek perfection and who do work hard at their preaching, who are zealous in study, whose hearts catch fire in their prayers and meditations, who keep the Lord always before them, looking to him as the one who will reward and judge their souls.”
