Has God ever spoken to you? Do you wonder why God doesn’t speak to you? Has God ever spoken to me? Yes, many times, but not in audible words. Often through the Scriptures, sometimes in prayer when something just comes to my mind, or I become aware of something and it is often through other people, through something they will say, even though they will be unaware of it.
God is speaking to us all the time. A lot of the time we are not aware of it because we are not listening and there is so much noise. Everywhere we go there is noise, music playing, tv or radio on, texts on our phones. It is very hard to find silence and we need silence if we are to listen.
If God spoke to you, what would He say to you? If we really believe God created us and that we are being drawn closer and closer to him, then God must have plenty to say to us, but maybe not in the way we would expect. Think of your children, if you have children, or nieces/nephews, you want to teach them, guide them and encourage them. You want to help them make sense of their lives and point them in the direction where they will hopefully be most fulfilled. Even if you don’t have your own children, there are always people we come across that we want to help in some way, through encouragement, or a bit of wisdom that we have learnt from experience. That is also how God speaks to us. Since God created us, He wants to teach us, show us the path that will lead to our greatest fulfillment, guide us in making good decisions and encourage us. He wants to help us make sense of the world around us. Do you ever wonder what exactly Jesus was saying to the people he taught when he walked the earth? It is the same as what He teaches us now.
If you read the Gospels it shows us what Jesus was teaching the people and He was showing them how to live in accordance with his word. He was also helping them to live at a deeper level, not just doing the minimum. You don’t give your children the minimum they need, but as much as you can, so that they will be as well equipped as possible.
One of the most striking things about what Jesus taught was how different it was to the thinking of the world and it is still the same. One example that comes to mind is where Jesus quotes the law of Moses and says, ‘You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ (Matt 5:44). Our culture says, ‘an eye for an eye,’ Jesus says the opposite. He says, ‘Do not judge, do not look at a woman lustfully, put others before yourself.’ Our culture says the opposite.
Who knows the best path and the best decisions for my life? God does. So if I want to follow the path that will be most rewarding and make the wisest decisions, then I need to listen to the One who has the answers.
‘But I am so busy, I don’t have time to stop and pray!’ We make time to eat, sleep and watch TV. We make time for whatever is important to us. If listening to God’s word is important enough to you, you will find there is time for it. Think of all the time you spend driving places. Turn off the radio. Get off the phone and listen! Talk to God from your heart and just be with him.
St. Benedict of Norcia lived around the year 500. Initially he went and lived as a hermit. But then more and more people began to join him and eventually he established a monastery and then other monasteries. He also wrote a rule for his monks, which is known as The Rule of St. Benedict, and it is still used by monks today, 1500 years later. It is basically a guideline of how they are to live from day to day. The very first word of the rule is the word ‘listen’. The second word is ‘carefully’. Listen carefully to my teaching.
We also talk about being ‘obedient’ to God. We are called to be obedient to God. The word ‘obedient’ comes from two Latin words ob audire, which means ‘listen intently.’ God is saying to us: ‘Listen carefully to what I have to say to you.’ Following God, means being obedient to God, which means listening to God. We won’t know what God’s word is, unless we read it and listen to it.
When Jesus was on the mountain with Peter, James and John and appeared in his glory, the Apostles heard the Father say, ‘This is my son the beloved; listen to him.’
At the wedding at Cana, Mary said to the servants, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’ In other words, ‘Listen to him.’
At one of the papal audiences, Pope Francis said this:
When we go to mass, maybe we arrive five minutes early and we start to chat with those in front of us. But it is not a moment to chat. It is a moment of silence, to prepare ourselves for dialogue with God. It is a time for the heart to collect itself, in order to prepare for the encounter with Jesus. Silence is so important. Remember what I said last week: we do not go to a show; we go to meet the Lord and silence prepares us and accompanies us [for this].
(Nov 15, 2017, St. Peter’s Basilica)
People come here up to two hours before the mass begins, in order to pray. They understand that it is an encounter with Jesus and they are preparing for it.
We are all different. All of us pray differently and that’s normal. But all of us need silence in some shape or form to be alone with God, to listen to God, so that the one who created us can speak to us. It says that Jesus continually went off on his own to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer before he picked the 12 Apostles. He was in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before the arrest. He was constantly turning to the Father and listening.
One of the most beautiful ways that God speaks to us is through the Scriptures. The Bible is a collection of letters and stories that God has written to us. Everything in the Bible addresses everything in our world today. Everything! Do you have a bible? If not, why not? Don’t you want to know what God has to say to you, because God is speaking to you. Take out your bible, or buy one and read one chapter of one book every day. It takes about 5 minutes. It probably doesn’t cost us a thought to watch an hour of TV, but how much time will I give to listening to the One who created us, the one who knows the best path for your life; the one who knows the answers to all your questions.
Jesus said, ‘Everyone who listens to my words and acts on them is like a sensible man who built his house on rock. The rains fell, floods came and the wind blew and buffeted the house, but it did not collapse, because it had been set solidly on rock.’
That rock, is the word of God. If we have the correct foundation, then it will be easier to follow the path that calls us on, the path which leads to him. The more you read the word of God, the clearer that path becomes. And it is the only path worthwhile. It is a difficult path, but it is the only one we need, because it will lead us to what we long for: our happiness and being with our loved ones again.
When the Apostles asked Jesus if many people will be saved, He said, ‘Try your best to answer by the narrow door.’ He didn’t say you must enter by the narrow door, but ‘try your best.’ That is what is important. None of us live as we would like to, but what counts is that we try.
God has a lot to say to us, but we must listen.
‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening.’
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