Recognizing the Voice of God
If I meet Jesus, my sincere worry is that I will react like the Jewish establishment at his time. They are having a long discussion with Jesus who is saying difficult things. They are hostile, threatened, contentious. For us, with centuries of reflection, what Jesus says remains challenging if no longer shocking.
But I imagine some outsider standing before me now saying: if you keep my word, you will never die. I personally know God, who is literally my father, and I also personally know Abraham, who died millennia ago, and he was happy to see me. As a minor member of the establishment in my parish and the Church, I’d probably be asking similar skeptical, uncomprehending questions.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will keep my heart open and soft enough to recognize the voice of God and will help me practice by seeing Christ in others.
—Jesuit prayer by Allain Andry