When some people speak

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus called some to work with him.  Ever since that day, we have been listening.  His voice speaks as loudly and clearly today as it did so many centuries ago ... guiding us as we seek his wisdom and leadership.  He himself uses us (and others like us) to speak his truths to today's society.  Who knows whether he's not calling you to use your talents too to spread his good news.

Listen in or read on for this week's reflection:

Speak with authority

In a few days’ time, we will bid farewell to Noel Simard.  For the past four years, he has been living in this city and assisting Bishop Plouffe with the management of the diocese.  During these last few years, those of us who have had the privilege to work closely with Bishop Simard have found in him a man of great wisdom, a man of compassion, a man who knows how to relate to people, and a man who knows how to balance the demands of work with a deep appreciation for family, friends and laughter.  He possesses the great gift of being able to integrate empirical knowledge with the wisdom that comes only from having spent time in prayer.  Because of this, when he speaks, people listen, because we recognize that his words carry an authority that speaks to the heart.

Throughout our history, other great orators and well respected individuals have possessed this gift.  King George VI of England, Sir Winston Churchill and John Diefenbaker all knew how to speak to nations with words that could rally forces and give them a common purpose at a time when they needed it most.  Saint Theresa of Avila and Saint Robert Belarmine used the powers of speech and wisdom to convince the leadership of their day to seek unity rather than division.  Mother Teresa of Calcutta and John Paul II combined their talents for oration with wisdom born out of much struggle balanced with prayer to speak simple but profound truths to the people of their time.

For millennia, the Jewish people have recognized the wisdom spoken by Moses, a wisdom repeated for us in today’s first reading.  Called by God to lead his people into the Promised Land, Moses had to find words which would help them to see that they had a common purpose.  Moses had to find words to echo truths that would speak to their hearts.  Thank goodness he did, otherwise his words would never have been written down and we may never have heard of him.  Moses knew that the key to his words was his ability to trust in God, to look to God for guidance, and to echo the words he himself heard in prayer.  Today’s first reading shows us that he also recognized that his words would not be the last spoken in the story: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet … you shall heed such a Prophet.

After the time of Moses, there were a number of prophets, each of whom spoke wisdom to his time.  In the fullness of time, God then sent his Son, and Jesus too spoke truths to those who would listen.  In fact, some were so taken with his words that they were astonished by his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority.  The recorded words we know as having been attributed to Jesus were not technical or convoluted.  In fact, it was their very simplicity that made them so powerful.  Jesus used simple every-day images and examples like lost coins, mustard bushes and the fish in the sea to speak about the truths of the Father’s Kingdom.  His teachings were not just words well crafted though.  They carried with them a truth that rang in the ears and hearts of his listeners.

In the early part of the first century A.D., Jesus’ listeners didn’t have the benefit of modern medicine to diagnose or to heal mental illness.  Instead, they referred to the malady as an unclean spirit.  I don’t know of anyone in our time who can command such a spirit to come out of another person, but there are doctors in our time who combine their talents for diagnosing a problem with their ability to assess a situation and then find a way to treat the problem: sometimes with medicine and other times with alternative means.

Perhaps Jesus didn’t have the benefits of modern medicine at his disposal, but he did have the ability to listen compassionately.  He knew how to use the power of words to speak not only to the intellect but more importantly to the heart.  He still does it today as he calls some of us to take positions of leadership within the Church and in our world.  He still speaks with authority when we recognize his words of compassion, encouragement, understanding and love spoken in the significant and not so remembered moments of our lives.