Thursday of The 3rd Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 28th January, 2021. The Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas

 Thursday of The 3rd Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 28th January, 2021.

The Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas

Readings: Heb. 10: 19-25, Ps.24, Mark 4:21-25

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

HE WHO HAS EARS LET HIM HEAR

The ears as we know are organs of hearing which consist of the pinna. It is a gift from God through which we have the faculty of being able to perceive sounds and recognize something in an auditory way. To exercise the faculty of this organ effectively we must learn to use it to listen attentively to information. The world no doubt is full of noise, echoing different things in our minds through our ears.

But what are we feeding our ears with? How are we use these organs? How has this organ helped us in our spiritual life despite this noisy world? How have we managed the noise in our lives, in families and society which distract us from listening to God? What are the things we hear or listen to? The Word of God we hear everyday how has it develop our relationship with God and our neighbour? 

Therefore, when Jesus said in our Gospel reading today, “he who has ears let him hear”, he is referring to our ability to listen to God's Word and act on it even in the midst of this noisy world. Thus, what Jesus means is that the person who seeks to gain some spiritual insight into what he is saying will have that insight increased when they listen, whereas whoever does not listen to him will end up in spiritual ignorance. To avoid this, we are reminded in our first  reading that through the blood of Jesus we have the right to enter the sanctuary, by a new way which he has opened for us which stirs a response in love and good works when we listen to Jesus.

Dear friends, by listening, hearing and following Jesus, we grow in familiarity with his voice and hears him more. And by so doing we make Jesus the light of our lives placed on the lampstand to give light and insight to our souls as individuals, family and society, illuminating all the darkness around us. And this is evident in the life of St. Thomas Aquinas whose memorial we celebrate today. For he was the famous theologian, who understands what it means to listen and do the will of God. He is remembered for his great work, the Summa Theologiae and  many other contributions, writings and works which still influenced and inspired so many people. Thereby showing us the important of listening and paying heed to what we hear.

 LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, our ears are gift from you, help us to use them properly. And as we carry out our activities today, may our ears hear the consoling words of Jesus guiding and directing us towards the light of his presence. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Remain blessed.