Time to Listen

“In prayer, more is accomplished by listening than by talking. Let us leave to God the decisions as to what shall be said.” St. Francis de Sales

I have been teaching for a long time. It is a rewarding job but it is also challenging. It is so important for the students to listen for instructions but it is also important for me to listen to them. My experiences have been varied over the years but there is always something to learn. Now that I teach language students, we do many listening activities. They need to have the audio repeated at least twice to help them with comprehension. I remind my students, and even friends, that teachers do not like to repeat themselves. It is interesting for me when I say that because I wonder how many times God needs to repeat Himself with us.

“God speaks in the silence of our heart. It is the beginning of prayer.” Mother Teresa

Once I went to a talk, and the priest who was giving the seminar told us that sometimes God closes the doors around us because He is trying to tell us something but we are not listening. Our hardened hearts must be incredibly difficult to overcome. God is quite strong. He is our Father and He is always ready to gather us to Himself. Recently, Pope Francis canonized the Martyrs of Damascus and in his homily, he said, “When we learn to serve,” he said, “our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God’s love. And so, we continue Jesus’ work in the world.” How do we continue this work? It is frustrating sometimes because we need to listen and we want others to listen to us. The morning prayer on the Magnificat app describes Psalm 13 reflecting our mood sometimes. Questions can afflict the committed believer who faces a disbelieving world. How many saints must have felt this isolated? Likely many. Today is the feast of Blessed Charles of Austria who had a strong faith and lived out the rest of his days in poverty in Madeira, Portugal. He never complained because he was listening to God’s will. Also canonized  this week was St. Marie-Léonie Paradis who was Canadian. She founded a religious order. During his homily, Pope Francis praised Paradis’ faith and underlined that “those who follow Christ, if they wish to be great, must serve by learning from Him” who made Himself “a servant to reach everyone with His love.” We need to learn many things and we need to listen. 

“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” Pope Paul VI

It can be exhausting trying to teach. It is tiresome to talk and it is also the same when we listen. Who wants to listen when we live in world where everyone knows everything? There are 24-hour newscasts, constant X feeds, Instagram and anywhere else where we can get information. But do we really pay attention? Sometimes, we suffer and do not know how to ask for help. Why should we ask? Maybe someone can direct us to the answer. I ask my friends in the Carmelite cloister for help. Their quiet contemplative life allows room and time for the Lord to speak. We live a life of busyness and distraction. We fill up our time with unnecessary activities because to sit quiet can be scary. It need not be scary. It can be beautiful. Let us listen with our ears, but also with our hearts and minds.

“When God sees us coming to Him in prayer, He leans His heart down very low to His little creature, like a father who bends down to listen to his child when it speaks to him.” St. Jean Vianney