All Roads Lead to Rome.. man Catholic Churches

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud. “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” -Mark 9:7

God commands us to listen to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Are you a good listener?

I know that I tend to talk more than I listen.

“Hyper-activity in the apostolic life is actually a sign of spiritual laziness.” -unknown Priest

Guilty. I used evangelisation as an excuse to spread the gospel through verbal vomit and regurgitated what I had learned to everybody and anybody who’d listen. Yet deep down, I knew that I was not ready. A lot of times, I didn’t fully understand what I was saying. I hadn’t taken enough time to learn and listen to our Lord.

I need to walk before I can run. Listen before I can speak.

Jason Evert, the Catholic author and chastity speaker, puts it well:

“The heavy-lifting is done in the interior life of prayer. That needs to take priority over everything. 50,000 words spoke by me to you will not do as much as one word spoken by the Father. Next time you come to prayer, and you try to sit still and your mind races off to distractions like mine does, just gently try to pull it back, and just sit and listen.

And know that the fruit of prayer is often not experienced in prayer. The fruit of prayer becomes undeniable when we persevere in prayer. And we might not hear a sense of a voice or a consolation of the moment, but if we begin to spend more time listening in prayer, then I think our ears will be open to hearing what it is that He has to say to us.”

Dear Heavenly Father,

You know I love to yap yap yap. So much that I often forget to listen to You in prayer. Please grant me, and all my brothers and sisters in the world, the peace to be still.

Still enough that we stop talking over You when You’re speaking to us. Still enough that when You, our Lord, are showing us a sign, we don’t miss it through all the distractions. Still enough that we keep our ears and heart open for whatever it is You have prepared for us. Please grant us the strength to surrender to You, and not get in the way of Your plans.

We love You, we adore You, and we are always trying to get to know You. Please grant us the clarity to remember the ultimate goal and not get distracted by earthly matters. With that being said, we are so grateful for all that You have loaned us during our time on earth. Grateful for all the little tastes of heaven You have so graciously shown us as appetizers while we are here.

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