Right off the bat, in the readings today we are told, “I command my people, Listen to my voice.” Henri Nouwen addressed listening as spiritual hospitality in his book, “Bread for the Journey”, as he wrote:

“To listen is very hard because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.”

Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.

Listening can be scary. Spiritual direction or spiritual companioning invites the Holy into the listening. I actively call on the Holy Spirit to be present during these special conversations. Listening is a way of tending to the Holy in our lives, our world.

There have been many times in my life when listening in silence has been extremely difficult. It seemed a constant litany of my troubles, faults, guilts plagued me. I did try to listen to his voice in other ways. I heard his voice in friends, strangers, movies, art, books, music, and nature. I still hear him in these places, as well as in scripture, liturgy, prayer, and in my heart when I am able to be silent.

St. Teresa of Calcutta connects listening and silence with these words: In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that

God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.

To make possible true inner silence, practice:

Silence of the eyes, by seeking always the beauty and goodness of God everywhere, and closing them to the faults of others and to all that is sinful and disturbing to the soul.

Silence of the ears, by listening always to the voice of God and to the cry of the poor and the needy, and closing them to all other voices that come from fallen human nature, such as gossip, tale-bearing, and uncharitable words.

Silence of the tongue, by praising God and speaking the life-giving Word of God that is the truth, that enlightens and inspires, brings peace, hope, and joy; and by refraining from self-defense and every word that causes darkness, turmoil, pain, and death.

Silence of the mind, by opening it to the truth and knowledge of God in prayer and contemplation, like Mary who pondered the marvels of the Lord in her heart, and by closing it to all untruths, distractions, destructive thoughts, rash judgments, false suspicions of others, vengeful thoughts, and desires.

Silence of the heart, by loving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength; loving one another as God loves; and avoiding all selfishness, hatred, envy, jealousy, and greed.

I shall keep the silence of my heart with greater care, so that in the silence of my heart I hear His words of comfort, and from the fullness of my heart I comfort Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor. For in the silence and purity of the heart God speaks.” Mother Teresa

The refrain echos with, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Where do you hear his voice? Are you listening?