Hardened Hearts

Homily for Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The Bible talks quite frequently about the heart, and not just in a romantic way. A hard heart can keep us from feeling love, showing kindness, and listening to God. When we harden our hearts, we block ourselves from understanding and accepting important truths. This can happen when we face tough situations or when we refuse to forgive. It’s a serious matter, and the Scriptures give us as many as 45 clear examples and warnings about this issue.

The first time that we encounter the notion of a hardened heart is in the Book of Exodus. God tells Moses, “On your return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go” (Exodus 4:21). Pharaoh’s heart is hardened repeatedly, sometimes by his own will and sometimes by God. This culminates in his refusal to release the Israelites despite escalating plagues.

However, as we hear in today’s first reading from the Book of Numbers, the children of Israel themselves display a hardness of heart as they grumble and murmur about their lack of food and water. Psalm 95, used as our responsorial to the reading, remembers the incident at Meribah when the people complained to Moses yet again about leading them out of Egypt to wander in a desert. The issue pops up in the New Testament as well where we hear Jesus rebuking the disciples for their hardness of heart.

In general hardness of heart not only describes resistance to God by refusing to listen, but a lack of understanding and unwillingness to accept truth or change one’s outlook based on what one hears. Where are each of us on this spectrum? Are we just not listening? Are we listening but not hearing? Or are we hearing but not understanding? Are we understanding but not willing to accept the truth of what we hear? What are we willing to do in response?

The Psalmist says one way to demonstrate that we hear the Lord’s voice is to joyfully sing psalms as we bow down in worship to the Lord, acclaiming the rock of our salvation. Jesus says he will build his church on our faith in a Rock called Simon Peter. Our salvation, where evil shall not prevail, comes through that faith. This is where listening is important. We have heard of the works of the Lord since ancient times written in the Scriptures. There is enough there for us to understand how God works. It should give us great confidence in clear directions for our lives.

Let us never forget that God desires a contrite and humbled heart.