Isaiah 50:4-9 / Matthew 26:14-25
It is often said that we have a pair of ears and only one mouth, so it means that we should listen twice as much as we speak.
Also when we speak, we are only saying what we already know. But when we listen, we may learn something new.
The 1st reading tells us that the prophet Isaiah was given a disciple's tongue so that he may know how to reply to the wearied.
But he continued by saying that each morning the Lord wakes him up to hear, to listen like a disciple, for the Lord has opened his ear.
Indeed, when we listen to the voice of the Lord, then we will know how to speak with the words from the Lord, words that will console the wearied and strengthen the weak.
But there is a voice that we also need to listen to, and that is our own voice and what is coming forth from our mouths.
The voice of our words reveal much to us, just as they reveal ourselves to others.
In the gospel, when Jesus revealed to His disciples that one of them was about to betray Him, they were distressed and started to ask in turn, "Not I, Lord, surely?"
When it came to Judas, who was to betray Him, he too asked, "Not I, Rabbi, surely?" Jesus answered, "They are your own words."
If only Judas had truly listened to his own voice and to his own words. But he was bent on betraying Jesus and hence he won't listen to anything at all.
As we are about to enter into the Sacred Triduum, we will be listening to the gospel accounts which recall the suffering and death, and the Resurrection of Jesus.
But let us listen for the voice of the Lord in those accounts. It is a voice that is more than mere words. We only need to listen, so that we can be in union with Jesus in the next three days.