Act on It September 26

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard. Proverbs 21:13

“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” Luke 8:21

Piety

God, source of all life, love and lessons, open our ears so that we may truly hear your word and act upon it. Open our mouths to praise you and call on you for help. Open our eyes so we can see who needs help. Open our hands to help the poor in spirit. Help us to act on your word today and everyday when we stop being so consumed with our self-centered universe. Deliver us from evil and grant us peace today. Amen.

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/092606.shtml

Today’s readings are a call to get and DO SOMETHING.

Who is a member of Jesus’ family? Today we get the answer – anyone who hears the Word of God and acts on it. Faith and Action. What happens if you are not inside listening to Jesus? Then listen to the poor on the streets.

As Bishop Thomas Gumbleton reminds us in his recent homily posted to the National Catholic Reporter (September 17, 2006), the word disciple means a learner, a listener. “We learn to be the disciples of Jesus by listening deeply to God and letting that word of God form us, change us, guide us, lead us.”[1] Then we get other lessons by listening to our neighbors.

There are no family ties but God and doing God's will (Proverbs 21:35). Action is the differentiating factor in the kingdom. Action without a basis in the Word amounts to just Good Works. Unless the action is informed by the Good News, then it might not wrestle open the Gates of Heaven for the rest of us.

In the reading from Proverbs, the writer takes on “empty piety” – external rites or sacrifices. These alone do not please God unless they are accompanied by internal worship (study) and behavior (action). There you have the roots of Cursillo written in Proverbs before the Fall of Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible.

This theme is echoed in the Good News. Luke explains that sitting around listening to Jesus is not enough. You have to get up and DO SOMETHING. You get the idea that if sisters Mary and Martha confronted Jesus while Luke was around, that Mary might have been reproached for listening to the Word without Action.

Action

Walk outside and listen to what you hear. Maybe it is just the crickets at night or the birds in the morning. These sounds are God’s gift to you.

Go into the city and do the same thing. Walk outside your office. Or get out of your car. Leave the Metro station. Take out your I-Pod ear buds and listen to what is happening around you.
Working one block from The White House and Pennsylvania Avenue brings me in contact with a whole different variety of sounds. The sounds of power as the police and Secret Service escort some dignitary in an unmarked van with smoked windows that outsiders can not see through. The sounds of impatient drivers stuck in cross town traffic. The truckers yelling back at drivers upset that they have double-parked blocking the travel lanes. The poor begging for a few quarters to get a hamburger at McDonald’s. The young government workers on line for an afternoon latte at Starbucks.

Maybe you will hear an invitation to perform the Corporal or Spiritual Works of Mercy…

[1] http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/peace/pfg091706.htm