Yes

A Reflection on the First Reading for July 10th, 2022
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Deuteronomy
30.10-14
 
Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the Law; turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
 
Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

God doesn’t ask much of me. Just all my heart and all my soul. 

Contrary to what Moses thinks, this is very hard. Maybe all that wandering in the desert made the Israelites tougher than me. 

Yet, everyday God asks me to obey Him and give Him my all. And everyday I say yes, because it’s quite easy to say yes. Acting on that yes is the challenge. And I think I’ve determined that I give a different kind of “yes” each day. 

Sometimes it’s a blind yes. The response I make out of habit because that’s what I’ve been taught to do.  Or, really, I take God’s presence in my life for granted. The problem with this “yes” is that it lacks intentionality, meaning, and any of the power this type of response is supposed to have. I go about my day not fully paying attention to where God is meeting me or working with me. Giving a blind yes isn’t really fair to me or to God. God asks for my everything because He so wants to give me His everything…and already has, in Jesus. 

On other days, I give a conditional yes.  I place conditions on God: “Sure God, I will give you all I am…but first, let me finish doing things my way. If things don’t quite work out as I hoped, then maybe we’ll do it your way, Lord – if it’s not too hard, or doesn’t interfere with the plans I’ve already made.”  A conditional yes is a selfish yes.  In these instances, I’m thinking more about what I have to give up or what saying “yes” is going to cost me. And again, the greatest price has already been paid – by Jesus. 

But if I'm in the right heart and head space, my yes is an expectant yes. The kind of yes that expresses my thankfulness for all God has given me and my openness to what He has planned for me.

However, in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t just about me.  When I say yes to God, I am saying yes to a relationship with Him and all who believe and follow him.  My response is personal but it is also communal. It is the yes of all who believe in the God who revealed Himself to us through His Son and continues to be with us through the Spirit.  We can each say yes, because God said yes to us first, and continues to say yes to us – even when we don’t feel it, see it, or hear it.  My yes is necessary, but I do not respond alone. I follow the obedient and expectant yeses of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Peter, and Paul, to name a few. I live in the hopeful yes of today’s disciples.  And in some small way, my yes will bear witness for the faithful of the future.




Aurea Sadi​

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