310th Meditation
“Listen, my people, while I give you warning; Israel, if only you would listen to me!” (Ps 81:8).
We know a little of the great suffering that results when we do not listen to the voice of the Lord, when we do not heed His warnings and directives, when we deviate from His commandments… When this happens, a person turns away from the guidance of the Lord and can even fall under the sway of influences hostile to God. Thus, life can become a disaster.
But this does not only happen on a personal level. When nations or even the whole of mankind turn from their path and cease to follow God’s commandments, then – as long as there is no conversion – their ruin is in sight. Great suffering ensues!
We can see all this clearly in the history of the people of Israel. The scene in which Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and exclaims: “How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you refused!” (Mt 23:37). We all know the consequences that befell them…
If we look into the Heart of Jesus, we know God’s deep sorrow for those who do not listen to Him. Perhaps we are used to looking at our own suffering, but let us try to see our Father’s. Is it not a great suffering for parents to see their children going astray; a suffering that sometimes prevents them from sleeping day and night? And what about God’s suffering for those who are His own, the suffering of the Virgin Mary when she sees that people do not listen to her Son?
It is not only the suffering that arises on a personal level for not listening to our Father, for ignoring His call or not following Him as we should; it is also the suffering that something does not come true on the path laid out by God, that there are delays, unnecessary detours, and so on.
“Israel, if only you would listen to me”
In this lamentation also resounds what God could do with an obedient Israel. If only His people would have listened to the Lord! Not only would misfortune have been avoided; but Israel would have experienced great joy.