St. Mary's Catholic Church of Tomahawk, WI

Listening to God

The word ‘obedient’ comes from the Latin word ‘audire’ which means ‘listening’. Jesus’ life was a life of obedience. He was always listening to the Father, always attentive to His voice, always alert for His directions. It is true that we are all surrounded by so much inner and outer noise that it is hard to truly hear our God when God is speaking to us.

To listen we need solitude. In solitude we do nothing but just be present to God. To do nothing and be present to God requires effort and great attentiveness. It calls us to an active listening. We all have a tendency to say many things to God. But the real work of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice of God within because God knows what we need. God wants us to be with Him and seek Him and He will provide everything.

Listen to the Church, the body of Christ. We can really listen to Christ in the liturgical celebrations of the different seasons like Christmas, Easter and feast days. We can listen to the Scripture and to our own heart. Spending ten minutes a day concentrating and listening to Jesus alone can bring about a radical change in our life. Listen to what the Lord is telling you about your life.

This way of listening in silence is a silence filled with the caring presence of God. Listening together with family/community to the Word of God can free us from our competition and rivalry and allow us to recognize our true identity as sons and daughters of the same loving God and brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ and thus for each other.

                                                 Fr. Louis Maram Reddy