The Art of Listening

“Listen and attend with the ear of your heart.” St. Benedict of Nursia

I drive a fair bit. However, I lose patience easily. People cut others off, turn without signalling, cyclists are always angry at the cars, and people walk with their coffee, phones and dogs, almost oblivious to what is around them. Once I traveled with some friends on a long car ride. I think often about how many things we did not pay attention to along the way. We walk without looking, talk without listening and get angry without even knowing the reasons why. It is a sad state of affairs and only through paying attention, through prayer, I think, would this begin to change.

“Today, so often we lose the ability to listen. We listen to music, we have our ears flooded constantly with all kinds of digital input, but sometimes we forget to listen to our own hearts, and it is in our hearts that God speaks to us, that God calls us and invites us to know him better and to live in his love.” Pope Leo XIV

St. Lydia, from the Acts of the Apostles, was a seller of purple dye. It was a hot commodity at the time. One Sabbath, while gathered with other women by the river outside Philippi, Lydia heard Paul the Apostle preaching. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message about Jesus Christ. She and her household were baptized, making her the first known European convert to Christianity. Her conversion marked a significant milestone in the spread of the Gospel. Apparently, her home became a place where Christians would meet, and this helped the Church in Philippi grow. While traveling around Europe some time ago, I visited Ars, France. I did not know much about St. Jean Vianney until I visited Ars in France, but he made listening an art. Tossed into an isolated parish, he turned things around quickly. He made the act of listening to an art. He was one person whom God raised up and made Him His own. He would spend so much time in prayer, in the confessional and working among the people that crowds came from all over to see him. He worked relentlessly to rebuild the Church, and he became the patron of priests. Maybe we need to look at more examples of listening.

“Let us always guard our tongue; not that it should always be silent, but that it should speak at the proper time.” St. John Chrysostom

I tend to blurt words out without thinking. I tend to be direct. It could be considered a fault but maybe frankness could help each other. We live in a time where we need to be careful about what we say but maybe we need to be honest at the same time. There are many times that we need to bite our tongue and then we need to say something out of love to those we truly care about. It is important that we remind each other to help as much as possible. We need to listen first, and it is not so easy to do.

Pope Paul VI famously stated, "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”