Listen with the ear of the heart!

Good morning, happy Thursday, and many blessings.

Today’s Gospel (Matthew 7:21, 24-27) narrates the end of the discourse on the mountain. The discourse on the mountain is a new reading of the Law of God. It begins with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1-12) and ends with the house built on the rock.

This Gospel remind us that it is not enough to hear the words of Jesus. They only have power when we act on them. What does "acting" on the words of Jesus mean in my life? Can I concretely see where my action issues from faith and prayer? Do Jesus' words challenge me about times of procrastination or lack of direction when I dodge the call? Can I be open, right now, to hearing the will of the Father, calling me, in ways small and great, into life? This Gospel, like many other narratives in the Bible, contains a language for hearing people. I always wonder how my deaf brothers and sisters would feel with all these descriptions.

Nevertheless, we all know that there is a clear difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is much simpler than listening.  When I hear the other person, I literally hear their words and the content.  However, I may not hear the layers of emotion or meaning that the individual may be trying to convey.  When we truly attend to what another person is saying, we not only hear their words, we also are attentive to their tone of voice, facial expression, anxiety level or their sense of calm.  We also may get a sense of what they have not said.  

Much of our day is spent hearing what others are saying.  And this is appropriate.  Most of our conversations are functional or casual conversations.  However, do we recognize it when another person needs us to truly listen to them?  At times, we all need someone who will do more than simply hear our words. We need individuals in our lives who take the time to truly listen to us.  

However, Jesus also wants us to listen to Him.  He desires that we truly attend to what He is saying.  In his Holy Rule, St. Benedict instructs us: “listen with the ear of your heart!” With the Rule of St. Benedict, we can find a beautiful hope for those who are hearing and non-hearing.

The task of today’s gospel is not to tell any of us all we need to know about life. This gospel has but one simple task: to get us to listen to Jesus continually and to live in accordance with what we hear. Today’s gospel calls us to a hearing, an attentiveness, which is not once-for-all, but continuous and never over.

Yet this hearing of Jesus as he travels with us through life is no easy business. Why? Because other, contrary voices compete for our attention. These other voices can be loud, insistent, and seductive. Without revealing it, they call us to live lives that are glitzy, small, dull, and selfish. Meanwhile Jesus invites us to be companions with him on the cross, and from that height to look on all the world with love. The challenge of continuing to hear Jesus, with our hearth, is so great that we need the help that comes only through contact with others engaged in the same effort.

And because speech and action are not separate for Jesus, he wants what he says to become real, to burst forth into the world where we live and make a difference among us. He wants us not only to hear his word, but to do it.

Blessings,

Fr. Luis+