Dear Saints,

It’s been said that listening is one of the sincerest forms of love. To start, it’s a sign of respect. When we listen to others, we demonstrate that their words are worthy of being heard (by contrast, interrupting or speaking over others suggests that we’re the only ones entitled to talk, a sentiment usually born of pride).

Listening is also a sign of connection. We listen because we want to understand; we seek to understand so that we can truly know. Mothers, for example, often come to differentiate cries. They can tell when a baby is hungry, or tired, or in pain, just by the way it cries. Perhaps without even realizing it, a mother listens to her child so frequently - and so well - that the two share a wavelength.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t consistently practice the same listening skills with God. Sometimes it’s because the world’s cacophony successfully competes for our attention, and sometimes it’s because we just don’t make the effort to reach his frequency. Whatever the reason, we’re often deaf to his word and oblivious to his will.

But there’s a cure for that. Through prayer, we can allow Jesus to take us away from the crowds; we can, in a very real sense, go off by ourselves with him. In those moments we can give him full access and allow him to heal our deaf ears and broken hearts. If we let him, he will clear away everything that prevents us from tuning into the wavelength of Heaven itself.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ