yearn to learn god
"I gasp with open mouth in my yearning for Your commands." —Psalm 119:131
During Mass, are we concentrating on the next sale at work or the ballgame that afternoon? (Am 8:5) Amos urges us to listen intently to the Word of God, for a time is coming when there will be a famine for hearing the Word of God (Am 8:11). Those who live in countries where faith is persecuted may understand all too well the spiritual starvation in such a famine.
We must work at listening to God. Listening to the Lord sacrificially is a good thing. Still, God wants more from us than sacrifices (Mt 9:9, 13). We are His beloved. He wants a more intimate relationship with us. For if we sacrifice for God, yet have not love, we gain nothing (1 Cor 13:3).
God wants us to yearn for His Word (Ps 119:131) with a yearning far deeper than that of a beloved longing to hear from a separated lover. With the psalmist, let us tell God: "My soul is consumed with longing for Your ordinances at all times" (Ps 119:20). The Lord wants us to listen to His Word and "long for" it (Ps 119:40), so we may not just know what is good, but also listen so as to know Him (Phil 3:8-10) and to love Him with our all (Lk 10:27). Our sacrificial service to Him and others will then flow out of a response to His amazing love.
Prayer: "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening" (1 Sm 3:9).
Promise: "I have come to call, not the self-righteous, but sinners." —Mt 9:13
Praise: God rewarded St. Maria's mother by allowing her to live long enough to witness her daughter's canonization as a saint forty-eight years after she was martyred.
Reference: (This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 29, 2012
The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.