Today, we commemorate the feast day of St. Ramirus and his companions. They were 6th-century Spanish monks martyred for their orthodox faith by Arian Visigoths. As monks at St. Claudius Monastery in Leon, Spain, a city that today has a prominent place on the Camino of Santiago pilgrimage trail, Ramirus and his community were put to death in the 6th century while chanting the Creed.
“Shma Israel, Adonai elo – hey – nu, Adonai e – chad” This is part of the Shema prayer that we hear in the Gospel today – “Hear O Israel – the Lord our God is Lord alone.” This is what Jesus cites as the first of all the Lord’s commandments. The Shema is a prayer that Jesus would have prayed on a daily basis as a practicing Jew in ancient Israel. We can know that God is our Lord and master, but we need to incorporate that reality into daily life.
Through the psalmist, the Lord tells us: “I am the Lord your God; hear my voice.” This might sound easy in theory, but in practice, it is not easy at all. To know when the voice of God is calling out to us can be challenging. When I was in seminary to study to be a priest, my classmates and I would struggle with God’s will for us as it pertained to our vocations. We needed our fellow classmates, our spiritual directors, and our seminary professors to help us discern God’s will for us. We would all like to hear God’s voice speaking to us loudly and clearly, but it doesn't always work that way.
Our Lenten disciplines are supposed to help us on our journey. They are supposed to help us distinguish God’s voice in the midst of so many other voices. Through fasting, almsgiving, and praying, we are to open our hearts to God, to hear his voice, to recognize his authority in our lives. We know that this is not always easy.
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