So to Speak

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, September 3rd, 2023:
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Jeremiah
20.7-9

​O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.

If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

The human voice. Depending on who you ask, it’s either a characteristic of the Trinity imprinted on humanity, or a complete mystery of evolutionary adaptation.

We humans can call our moms, deliver presidential speeches, imitate Bob Dylan and shout invectives at referees thanks to the unique structure of our larynx. But those same folds and openings that compose our voice boxes make us vulnerable to a very real danger: choking. From an evolutionary standpoint, the trade-off is mystifying. Our voices come at the price of death.

But we Christians know that we were made in the image and likeness of the Trinity. Everything about us somehow represents Him. We can look to understand the importance of our voices in this light. God’s voice created everything. God spoke the Word. When we use our voices, in prayer, praise, instruction, and song, we echo His own throughout eternity.

Which brings us to Jeremiah. He is filled with the Holy Spirit - we know because he feels full of fire. And the fire is compelling him to use his voice, to speak and shout aloud. Here we see clues about the importance of our voices - as reverberators, amplifiers, and proclaimers of the One voice.

Jeremiah’s predicament sounds an awful lot like Pentecost. The fire comes down and the Holy Spirit uses the Apostles voices in miraculous ways to yield conversions to Christ and His Gospel.

Through these rather vocal Apostles we have every priest who has ever lived. Through them, we have had the voice of Christ Himself, in persona Christi, sharing his Body and Blood, and saying those salvific words, “I absolve you of all your sins.”

But before the priest can speak those words, another act of speech is necessary - the confession. Given how I started this reflection pondering the trade-off of speech and choking, I found this passage from Origen pretty intriguing: “Those who have sinned, if they conceal and keep the sin within, they are distressed and almost choked by it …”.

The evil one hates our voices. He wants us silent. Silent about our love of God, choked from confessing our transgressions. The songs of the angels and saints torture him.

So everybody, let’s not only take some time today to appreciate how amazing our voices are, but to use them as they were meant to be used. Say a prayer or a blessing out loud. Unite your voice to the ‘Sanctus’ sung by the heavenly choirs at Mass, even if you’re not a strong singer. I heard recently that singing in a group is one of the top ways to release endorphins - so join in! Let loose in the car, or for your pets. Just don’t be silenced.

Silence is for libraries, not for souls.




​Kate Mosher

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