Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time – Lectionary: 459

Listening to the Lord’s Voice

Come and linger with the Word today, because these passages teach us how to hear again so that mercy can reach us. In Baruch 1:15-22, the exiled people confess that the catastrophe they endure is not random but covenantal: “We have sinned in the Lord’s sight.” Their prayer echoes Israel’s long history of ignoring God’s voice and running after idols, a posture that the Law warned would end in curse and dispersion. Psalm 79 sounds like standing amid the ashes of Jerusalem after invasion, crying from humiliation and loss for God to act, not because we deserve it, but because His Name is at stake: “Deliver us, pardon our sins for your name’s sake.” Into that penitential backdrop, Luke 10:13-16 confronts Galilean towns that enjoyed Jesus’ mighty works but refused conversion, a refusal so grave that Tyre and Sidon would rise up as witnesses against them. Jesus then binds our response to the Church’s preaching to our response to Him: “Whoever listens to you listens to me.” Historically and culturally, sackcloth and ashes signaled real repentance, not performance, and the ruined city in Psalm 79 recalls the trauma of 586 B.C., while Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum were bustling lakeside communities that still missed the hour of grace. Religiously, these readings press the same point the Church teaches: conversion is an interior turning of heart and will that bears fruit in life (CCC 1431–1432), and Christ continues to speak through those He sends in apostolic ministry (CCC 858–860; CCC 862; CCC 87). The central theme is clear: God urgently calls His people to listen and repent, for judgment follows hardened hearts, yet mercy is lavish for all who confess and return. Where has God been speaking to you, and what concrete step of listening and repentance is He inviting you to take today?

First Reading – Baruch 1:15-22

Learning to Listen Again

The book of Baruch emerges from the trauma of exile, when Judah’s leaders, priests, and people grappled with the fall of Jerusalem and the desecration of the Temple. Historically this text reflects the aftermath of the Babylonian conquest in the early sixth century B.C., when the covenant people found themselves scattered and shamed. Culturally, public confession, fasting, and the language of shame and repentance were the community’s way of returning to God. Religiously, this passage is a litany of accountability that traces disaster to covenant infidelity. Within today’s theme of listening and repentance, Baruch 1:15-22 names the root problem with piercing clarity. The people did not listen. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their hearts. They served other gods. Yet even this painful honesty becomes the doorway to mercy, because truth telling is the first step toward healing.

Baruch 1:15-22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

¹⁵ “To the Lord our God belongs justice; to us, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, to be shamefaced, as on this day— ¹⁶ to us, our kings, rulers, priests, and prophets, and our ancestors. ¹⁷ We have sinned in the Lord’s sight ¹⁸ and disobeyed him. We have not listened to the voice of the Lord, our God, so as to follow the precepts the Lord set before us. ¹⁹ From the day the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord, our God, and neglected to listen to his voice. ²⁰ Even today evils cling to us, the curse the Lord pronounced to Moses, his servant, at the time he led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey. ²¹ For we did not listen to the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets he sent us, ²² but each of us has followed the inclinations of our wicked hearts, served other gods, and done evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.

Detailed Exegesis

Verse 15 – “To the Lord our God belongs justice; to us, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, to be shamefaced, as on this day.”
This verse sets the theological frame. God is just. Israel is ashamed. The contrast is not cruel, it is clarifying. The confession acknowledges God’s righteousness and the community’s guilt, which is the indispensable starting point for conversion. The Catechism teaches that sin wounds truth and justice, so recognizing God’s justice restores right vision of reality.

Verse 16 – “To us, our kings, rulers, priests, and prophets, and our ancestors.”
The guilt is communal and transgenerational. Leadership and laity alike are implicated. Biblical repentance is never merely private. It is corporate and historical because sin distorts an entire people. This prepares the heart for a grace that can renew families, institutions, and worship.

Verse 17 – “We have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed him.”
Sin is defined as rebellion against God’s will. The text insists on the personal and relational dimension of sin. It is not only failure to meet a standard. It is an offense against the Lord who loves and saves. True repentance must therefore be relational as well, a return to the living God.

Verse 18 – “We have not listened to the voice of the Lord, our God, so as to follow the precepts the Lord set before us.”
Hearing and obeying in Scripture belong together. To refuse God’s voice is to reject His path of life. The sin named here is negligence and hardness of heart toward revealed precepts. Listening to God means concrete obedience that reshapes choices, habits, and worship.

Verse 19 – “From the day the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord, our God, and neglected to listen to his voice.”
The confession stretches from Exodus to exile. Grace upon grace had been given, yet persistent refusal followed. This historical sweep deepens contrition and unmasks the pattern. God’s saving deeds did not fail. The people failed to persevere in listening. Healing begins when patterns are faced without excuses.

Verse 20 – “Even today evils cling to us, the curse the Lord pronounced to Moses, his servant, at the time he led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Covenant curses in the Mosaic law explain the catastrophe. Consequences are not arbitrary. They are covenantal. God’s justice is consistent with His promises. Naming the curse is not despair, it is diagnosis. Once the cause is known, the path home can be sought.

Verse 21 – “For we did not listen to the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets he sent us.”
Prophetic preaching was God’s mercy calling His people back. Rejecting the prophets is rejecting God’s rescuing love. The refusal to heed the prophetic word points forward to the Gospel call to receive the apostolic witness with faith and obedience.

Verse 22 – “But each of us has followed the inclinations of our wicked hearts, served other gods, and done evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.”
The final statement diagnoses the heart and its idolatry. Sin is not only external behavior. It is disordered love that enthrones false gods. True repentance must therefore address the heart’s attachments and re-center worship on the Lord alone.

Teachings

This passage aligns with the Church’s teaching on sin and interior conversion. The Catechism defines sin and calls for radical reorientation of life toward God. “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. It entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace.” CCC 1431.
Moreover, the Church clarifies the nature of sin. “Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience. It is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity.” CCC 1849.
The heart must turn to God to be healed, which the prophets anticipated and the New Covenant fulfills. “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.” Ezekiel 36:26. The longing for God that undergirds conversion is voiced by Saint Augustine: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Confessions I.1. In light of Baruch, these teachings show that acknowledging guilt, listening to God’s voice, and renouncing idols are the conditions for renewal. The same Lord who judged covenant infidelity now offers a new heart and steadfast spirit to all who return to Him.

Reflection

Repentance begins when we stop negotiating with our sins and start listening to God’s voice with a whole heart. Today is an invitation to tell the truth before the Just and Merciful One, to renounce whatever steals our hearing, and to take concrete steps back to obedience. Choose one pattern of disobedience, name it, and bring it to prayer and, if needed, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation this week. Restore daily listening by setting aside time to read The Gospel of Luke and to practice silent prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to expose false gods and to enthrone Jesus in the center again. Where have you silenced the Lord’s voice in your life, and what specific act of obedience can you offer today as a response of love? What idol is competing for your heart’s attention, and how will you remove it so that you may hear and follow the Lord with freedom?

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 79:1-5, 8-9

Crying Out for Mercy and Honor of the Holy Name

This lament rises from the smoke of devastation, likely recalling the Babylonian invasion that razed Jerusalem and desecrated the Temple. Historically it echoes 586 B.C., when the people witnessed collapse at every level of life. Culturally it is a public prayer that names catastrophe before God with unflinching honesty. Religiously it is a plea that links forgiveness with the glory of God’s Name. Within today’s theme of listening and repentance, Psalm 79 teaches us to bring ruins to the Lord, to confess without excuses, and to appeal not to our merit but to His covenant fidelity. The psalmist models how contrite hearts speak: they mourn the consequences of sin, they refuse to harden themselves, and they beg for mercy that displays God’s holiness to the nations.

Psalm 79:1-5, 8-9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

A Prayer for Jerusalem
¹ A psalm of Asaph.

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple;
    they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
² They have left the corpses of your servants
    as food for the birds of the sky,
    the flesh of those devoted to you for the beasts of the earth.
³ They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and no one is left to do the burying.
⁴ We have become the reproach of our neighbors,
    the scorn and derision of those around us.

⁵ How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
    Will your jealous anger keep burning like fire?

⁸ Do not remember against us the iniquities of our forefathers;
    let your compassion move quickly ahead of us,
    for we have been brought very low.

⁹ Help us, God our savior,
    on account of the glory of your name.
Deliver us, pardon our sins
    for your name’s sake.

Detailed Exegesis

Verse 1 – “O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.”
The prayer begins by naming desecration in God’s presence. Israel calls the land and Temple “your inheritance,” acknowledging that what has been violated belongs to God first. The language of defilement signals that sin is not only political tragedy but sacrilege. Listening begins with truth telling before the Holy One.

Verse 2 – “They have left the corpses of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of those devoted to you for the beasts of the earth.”
The horror is total. Denial of burial was a sign of utter humiliation. The psalm dares to bring this scandal into prayer, teaching that nothing is off limits when we speak to God. In repentance we do not sanitize our wounds. We place them where grace can reach them.

Verse 3 – “They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and no one is left to do the burying.”
Blood “like water” magnifies helplessness. The absence of mourners intensifies the desolation. Sin fractures communion until no one remains to perform works of mercy. The people face the bitter fruit of their history, which aligns with the pattern confessed in Baruch 1:15-22.

Verse 4 – “We have become the reproach of our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us.”
Shame before the nations fulfills covenant warnings. Yet this shame becomes material for intercession. When God restores His people, His Name is vindicated before the world. The movement from reproach to restoration hinges on humble listening and heartfelt return.

Verse 5 – “How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous anger keep burning like fire?”
“How long” is the cry of faith that refuses despair. “Jealous anger” recalls God’s covenant love that tolerates no rivals. The question does not accuse God of injustice. It seeks the hour of mercy. True repentance hopes in the God who disciplines to heal.

Verse 8 – “Do not remember against us the iniquities of our forefathers; let your compassion move quickly ahead of us, for we have been brought very low.”
Memory is central in Scripture. The psalm asks God to remember mercy rather than guilt. “Move quickly ahead of us” recognizes our inability to save ourselves. The lowly give God room to act. This is listening that yields to grace.

Verse 9 – “Help us, God our savior, on account of the glory of your name. Deliver us, pardon our sins for your name’s sake.”
Here is the theological summit. The plea is grounded in God’s Name, not human worthiness. Forgiveness and deliverance display who God is. Repentance becomes worship when it seeks the manifestation of divine glory in mercy.

Teachings

The Church teaches that repentance is first in the prayer of petition. “The first movement of the prayer of petition is asking forgiveness, like the tax collector: ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer.” CCC 2631. The psalm’s confession also accords with the nature of sin. “Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience. It is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity.” CCC 1849. Interior conversion is therefore essential for renewal. “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. It entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace.” CCC 1431. The Psalms themselves tutor the Church in this path by bringing every circumstance into prayer before God’s face, turning lament into trust that magnifies His Name in mercy.

Reflection

Bring your ruins into prayer today and let repentance become worship. Speak plainly to God about the places that feel desecrated, then ask Him to act for the glory of His Name. Choose one concrete practice of listening, such as praying Psalm 79 slowly and making an examination of conscience before bed, followed by an act of contrition. Make plans to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation if you have been away. Ask the Lord to turn shame into testimony so that His mercy is seen through your life. What hard reality do you need to name before God today without minimizing or excuses? Where is the Holy Spirit inviting you to move from lament to trust by a specific step of obedience and mercy?

Holy Gospel – Luke 10:13-16

The Eternal Stakes of Listening

Luke situates this warning after Jesus has sent the seventy two on mission, a moment when the Kingdom is breaking in through preaching, healings, and exorcisms in Galilee’s lakeside towns. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum enjoyed privileged access to Jesus’ works, yet many did not repent. Culturally, “sackcloth and ashes” were the public signs of heartfelt contrition. Religiously, Jesus measures responsibility by light received. If pagan Tyre and Sidon would have repented at lesser signs, then the covenant towns that saw greater wonders stand under greater judgment. This fits today’s theme of listening and repentance. Refusing the Lord’s voice when it comes through His mighty deeds and His appointed messengers is not neutral. It is a rejection of the One who sent Him, a reality The Catechism applies to the Church’s pastors and their authentic teaching.

Luke 10:13-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

¹³ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ ¹⁶ Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

Detailed Exegesis

Verse 13 – “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.”
“Woe” is a prophetic cry that laments impending judgment. Jesus compares covenant towns with notorious Gentile cities to expose a failure to respond. “Sackcloth and ashes” signal genuine penitence, not performance. The point is not that pagans are superior, but that greater revelation increases accountability. Miracles are not spectacles. They are summonses to conversion.

Verse 14 – “But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.”
Judgment is real and proportionate to the light received. The phrase “more tolerable” implies degrees of responsibility and consequence. Divine justice is not arbitrary. It weighs response to grace. Hearing the Gospel without conversion endangers the soul.

Verse 15 – “And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’”
Capernaum, Jesus’ base of operations, stands as a tragic symbol of presumption. Exaltation without repentance becomes descent. The reversal echoes prophetic oracles against proud cities. The warning is medicinal. It aims to shake secure sinners awake to a saving humility.

Verse 16 – “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
Here Jesus binds reception of the apostolic word to reception of His own person and the Father who sent Him. Listening to the Church’s authorized messengers is not optional to Christian life. It is the concrete way we listen to Christ today. Refusal of apostolic preaching is a theological act with eternal consequences.

Teachings

Jesus’ signs are ordered to faith and conversion, not to curiosity. “The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him.” CCC 548. “So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father’s works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God.” CCC 548. “They are not intended to satisfy people’s curiosity or desire for magic.” CCC 548. The proper response to miraculous works is interior repentance. “Jesus’ call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, ‘sackcloth and ashes,’ but at the conversion of heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures, and works of penance.” CCC 1430. Because Christ continues His mission through those He sends, docility to the Church’s shepherds is obedience to Christ. “Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles: ‘He who hears you hears me’ (Lk 10:16), the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.” CCC 87. In this light, today’s Gospel clarifies that indifference to the preached word is not a small matter. It is a spiritual peril precisely because it is a refusal of grace offered through Christ’s own voice in His Church.

Reflection

The Lord’s mighty deeds have already touched your life through the sacraments, answered prayers, healings, providences, and the living witness of the Church. Ask for the grace to respond not with passing admiration but with concrete repentance. Make time this week to practice lectio divina with The Gospel of Luke, listen attentively to Sunday preaching, and resolve at least one specific act that manifests interior conversion, such as reconciling with someone you have avoided or scheduling the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Invite accountability by sharing your resolution with a trusted friend or spiritual director. Where have you witnessed God’s works yet postponed a change He is asking of you? How will you practice docility to Christ’s voice by receiving and acting on the teaching you hear from the Church this week? What outward sign of penance will you embrace to express the interior conversion the Holy Spirit is awakening in you today?

Listening That Becomes Life

Today’s Word carries us on a single path. Baruch 1:15-22 teaches us to tell the truth before God with contrite hearts, owning our history and naming our idols. Psalm 79:1-5, 8-9 shows us how to lament honestly and then ask boldly for mercy grounded in God’s glory, praying “Deliver us, pardon our sins for your name’s sake.” Luke 10:13-16 confronts us with the urgency of response, because to receive or refuse the Church’s preaching is to receive or refuse Christ Himself: “Whoever listens to you listens to me.” Taken together, the message is clear. Listen to the Lord. Repent from the heart. Walk in the mercy that magnifies His Name.

Let this be your next faithful step. Set aside time today to pray Psalm 79 slowly, make a brief examination of conscience, and ask for the grace of concrete conversion. If you have been away, plan to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Practice docility by acting on a teaching you hear at Mass this week and choose one visible work of mercy as a sign of interior change. Open the Gospels and let Jesus’ voice reorder your plans. Where is the Holy Spirit inviting you to listen more closely and obey more promptly? What specific act will you embrace today so that your repentance becomes a living witness to God’s mercy?

Engage with Us!

We would love to hear how the Lord spoke to you today. Please share your reflections in the comments below so we can pray with you and grow together in holiness.

1. First Reading: Baruch 1:15-22 — Where have you noticed a pattern of not listening to the Lord, and what specific step of repentance will you take this week to return to Him with your whole heart? Which attachment or “idol” is competing for your love, and how will you remove it so that your worship belongs to God alone?
2. Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 79:1-5, 8-9 — What “ruins” in your life do you need to bring honestly into prayer, asking God to act for the glory of His Name rather than your merit? How will you let lament become trust by choosing a concrete act of mercy or reconciliation today?
3. Holy Gospel: Luke 10:13-16 — Where have you witnessed God’s mighty deeds and delayed your response, and what change will you make now as a sign of true metanoia? How will you practice docility to Christ by receiving and acting on the teaching you hear from the Church this week?

Be encouraged. Keep your eyes on Jesus, listen to His voice, and walk in the mercy that magnifies His Name. Live a life of faith and do everything with the love and mercy Jesus taught us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in You!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle! 

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