Listening

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In a moment of darkness, the prophet Isaiah lifts up his voice to comfort the Chosen People who live in exile. He announces the happy return to their homeland:

“Say to those whose hearts are frightened: ‘Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you’” (Isa. 35:4).

And the prophet predicts wonders which will have their complete fulfillment with the coming of the Messiah:

“Then,” he says, “will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ear of the deaf be unstopped; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the dry land. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground springs of water” (Isa. 35:5-7).

With Christ, all mankind is healed, and the inexhaustible springs of grace convert the world into a new creation. Our Lord has transformed everything, and in particular the souls of men.

In the Gospel of St. Mark, we're told the story of the deaf mute (Mark 7:31-37).

Our Lord brought him apart, placed His fingers in his ears, and touched his tongue with spittle. Afterwards, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven “and said, ‘Ephpheta!’ (that is, ‘Be opened!’). At once the man's ears were opened; he was freed from the impediment, and began to speak plainly.”

The fingers that Our Lord uses can signify a powerful divine action, as was often the case in the Old Testament. (cf. Ex. 8:19). Saliva was thought to have a certain ability to heal wounds.

Although it is the words of Christ that work the cure, as on other occasions, says one spiritual writer, He wanted to use visible, material objects which in some way were intended to express the more profound action that the sacraments were later going to work in souls (cf. Michael Schmaus, Dogmatic Theology).

Already in the first centuries, and throughout many generations (cf. A. G. Martimort, The Church at Prayer), the Church used these same gestures of the Lord at the moment of Baptism, while she prayed over the one baptized.

That Rite of Baptism said, “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf hear and the dumb speak, grant that at the proper time you may hear his Word and proclaim the Faith” (Rite of Baptism for children).

We can see in this healing of the deaf-mute which Our Lord performs an image of His acting in souls: He frees man from sin, He opens his ears to hear the Word of God, and loosens his tongue to praise and proclaim the marvelous works of God.

At the moment of Baptism, the Holy Spirit, the finger of the right hand of God the Father, as the liturgy proclaims, freed our hearing to listen to the Word of God, and loosed our tongue in order to announce it throughout the world; and this is continued during the whole of our life.

St. Augustine, in commenting on this passage of the Gospel, says that the tongue of someone united to God “will speak of the Good, will bring to agreement those who are divided, will console those who weep. God will be praised” (St. Augustine, Sermon 311).

These things we will do if we have our hearing attentive to the continuous inspirations of the Holy Spirit and if we have our tongue ready to speak of God, uninhibited by human respect.

There is a deafness of soul which is worse than that of the body, since no one is more deaf than he who does not want to hear. There are many who have their ears closed to the Word of God, and many, too, who have become more and more insensitive to the innumerable invitations of grace.

As the Second Vatican Council says, an apostolate which is patient, tenacious, full of understanding, accompanied by prayer, will make many of our friends hear the Word of God, and be themselves converted into new apostles who will speak of Him everywhere. This is one of the missions which we receive at Baptism (cf. Vatican II, Lumen gentium, Point 33, November 21, 1964).

We Christians can't remain dumb when we need to speak of God and to transmit His message openly: parents to their children, teaching them their prayers and the basics of their faith from their infancy; a friend to his friend, when the opportune moment presents itself, and even making it arise if necessary; an office worker to his colleagues, offering them, by his word and example, a cheerful model to imitate; the student at the university, among those with whom he spends many hours.

We can't remain silent during the countless opportunities that Our Lord places before us, in which we can show to everyone the path of sanctity in the middle of the world.

There are even moments in which it would be unnatural for a good Christian not to say something supernatural: the death of a loved one, a visit to a sick person (we can open great horizons to those who suffer, if we ask them to offer their discomfort for some intention, or for the Church or for the Pope), the conversation that touches upon some slanderous story in the news...can be a great opportunity to give good doctrine.

People expect it of us, and we can't defraud them by remaining silent. There are many reasons to speak of the beauty of our faith, of the incomparable joy of having Christ.

And, among others, there's the responsibility given in Baptism not to let anyone lose the faith through the avalanche of ideas and doctrinal errors that leave many defenseless.

In The Forge, Point 466, St. Josemaría Escrivá says, “The enemies of God and of his Church, manipulated by the devil's unremitting hatred, are relentless in their activities and organization. With ‘exemplary’ constancy they prepare their cadres, run their schools, appoint leaders, and deploy agitators. In an undercover way—but very effectively—they spread their ideas and sow, in homes and in places of work, a seed that is deliberately destructive of religion.

“What is there that we Christians should not be ready to do in order to serve Our God, of course always with the truth?”

We could ask ourselves: Am I content to remain passive? The mission we received on the day of our Baptism needs to be put into practice all our life, in all circumstances.

As announced by the prophet Isaiah, the moment has arrived in which “the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be unstopped; the lame will leap like the stag, the tongue of the dumb will sing” (Isa. 35:5-6).

These wonders are accomplished in our time in a way immensely more profound than that envisioned by the prophet; they take place in the soul docile to the Holy Spirit, who has been sent by Our Lord.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we ask for the faith and for daring to announce clearly and openly the magnalia Dei, the wonderful works of God that we see around us, just as the apostles did after Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:1).

St. Augustine says, “If you love God, draw to you all those who gather around or live in your house, so that all will come to love him. If you love the Body of Christ, which is the unity of the Church, impel everyone to rejoice in God and tell them with David: ‘Magnify the Lord with me, and let us together praise his holy name’ (Ps. 34:3); and in this do not be calculating or stingy, but rather win for the Lord all those you can by whatever means possible, according to your abilities: exhorting them, bearing them up, pleading with them, arguing with them, and giving them the reasons for the things of faith, with all gentleness and tact” (St. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 34).

May we not remain silent when God wants to say so much through our words.

St. Mark in his Gospel has preserved the Aramaic word used by Our Lord, Ephpheta–“be opened.” Many times, the Holy Spirit has made us aware, in different ways, of this imperative counsel or advice in the depths of our soul.

One writer says, “Our mouth has had to be opened and our tongue loosed in order to speak about the state of our own soul with clarity, being very sincere, explaining with simplicity what has occurred in our lives, our desires for holiness, and the temptations of the enemy, our little victories, and our setbacks, if there have been any.

“Our hearing has had to be cleared in order that we may be attentive to the many lessons and suggestions granted to us by the Master, the Lord of the Harvest, in spiritual direction (cf. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life).

The difficult battle, if it is fought by one who is armed with sincerity and docility, will always be won; engaged in by someone equipped with deceit, in isolation, and with pride in his own opinion, it will invariably be lost.

It is the Lord who cures and who chooses the means He will use—means that will always be disproportionate.

St. Vincent Ferrer says God “never gives his grace to one who, having available to him someone capable of instructing and directing him, chooses to despise this most efficacious means of sanctification, believing that he is sufficient unto himself and that by his efforts alone he can seek and find what is necessary for salvation.”

“Another,” he continues, “who, having a director, chooses to obey him without reserve and in everything, may arrive more easily than he would do if alone, although he might well possess a keen intelligence and have at hand knowledgeable books on spiritual matters” (St. Vincent Ferrer, Treatise on the Spiritual Life).

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the man who was beaten and left to die was helped by the least expected person. In Our Lord's time, the Jewish and Samaritan peoples were often at odds.

“We can imagine the Samaritan finding the wounded man and perhaps, asking him, ‘What happened to you?’

“But even without words, through this attitude of openness and hospitality, an encounter begins. That first gesture is an expression of care, and that's crucial.

“The ability to listen and be open to receiving the story of another without concern for the cultural prejudices of the time prevented the wounded man from being left for dead” (Dicastery for Communication, Bulletin, Towards Full Presence, Points 26 and 28, May 29, 2023).

Listening is a fundamental skill that allows us to enter into relationships with others and not just engage in exchange of information.

We're all exposed in one way or another, and still paying attention to the old serpent who shows us new fruits every day. Those fruits seem “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable to gain wisdom” (Gen. 3:6).

“Like seeds along the path, where the Word is sown, we can allow evil to come and take away the Word that was sown in us (cf. Mark 4:14-15).

“Silence can be a precious commodity, for it ensures space for focus and discernment” (ibid., Points 30 and 35)—silently listening to the advice we receive in Confession and spiritual direction, silently listening to what the Holy Spirit may be saying to us in and through our spiritual reading, or in this recollection, or in this retreat, or in this period of personal prayer; or listening to what other people may be saying to us around us with their body language, not so much with their words. There may be a deeper message there.

Silence is very important in order to listen carefully to what is being said to us in one way or another, and to get the message. “Silence…is not simply a withdrawal but rather a way to engage more deeply with God and with others.”

We need to ask Our Lord to touch our ears with His fingers and let us hear the deeper messages that He wants to convey to us, words and ideas that have to shape our soul, our mind, our heart, and later on the whole of society.

“Listening emerges from silence and is fundamental for caring for others, both humanly and spiritually. By listening we welcome someone, we offer hospitality, and show that person respect” (ibid., Point 36).

A little girl once was talking to her father who was reading the newspaper and she stopped and said, “Daddy, you're not listening to me.”

He said, “Yes, I'm hearing every word that you're saying” but he went on reading the newspaper. The little girl said, “But you're not looking at me.”

She wanted his full attention, not just the presence of his ears. Listening sometimes involves much more than just our ears.

“Listening is also an act of humility as we acknowledge the truth or the wisdom or the value beyond our own limited perspective. Without a listening disposition, we are not able to receive the gift of another” (ibid.).

We listen not just with our ears, but we also listen with our heart. We have to try and listen to the Holy Spirit with the “ear of our heart,” really wanting to hear those words for that direction, for that help, that's coming to us.

Or in our interaction with other people, the same thing—listening with the “ear of the heart.” What exactly is this person trying to say to me? What is the message that I'm getting?

If we have a commitment to listening, it helps us to “move from rapid reactions, misleading assumptions, impulsive comments, to creating opportunities for dialogue, raising questions to learn more, demonstrating care and compassion, and recognizing the dignity of those we encounter.

“Intentional listening…calls for listening with the ‘ear of the heart.’ It goes beyond the physical ability to hear sounds. Instead, it impels us to be open to the other with the whole of our being: an openness of heart that makes closeness possible. It's a posture of attentiveness and hospitality that is fundamental for establishing communication” (ibid., Point 38).

In the twenty-first century we need to be good communicators. First and foremost, we have to know how to listen to God.

As followers of Christ, we should be known for our ability “and availability to listen, to discern before acting, to treat all people with respect, to respond with a question rather than a judgement, to remain silent rather than trigger a controversy. As St. James says (1:19), ‘We need to be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger’” (ibid., Point 77).

In Our Lady we find the perfect model of one who listens with attentive ear to what God is asking. She gets the message in order to put it into practice from a standpoint of complete availability.

Judas could have listened to all the teaching of Our Lord but just with his ears, not with his heart. He did not make it his own. There's a great contrast.

“At the Annunciation,” said John Paul II, “Our Lady entrusted herself to God completely, with the ‘full submission of intellect and will,’ manifesting the ‘obedience of faith’ (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, Point 5, November 18, 1965) to him who spoke to her through his messenger” (John Paul II, Encyclical, Redemptoris Mater, Point 13, March 25, 1987).

At the end of our prayer, we can turn to Our Lady and ask her to teach us how to listen attentively to everything that comes from God, and to put it into practice.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

DWM