Listen

 Listen 

A priest was greeting the people at the church entrance after Mass when a  child grabbed his hand and handed him money. Surprised, the priest asked  the child, “What is this for my child?” The child said, “I thought you could  use the money. After your homily, my mother whispered to me that you are  the poorest preacher this parish has ever had.”  

In February 2019, a national conference for priests was arranged. It was  titled “The Joy of Preaching.” Several speakers, both priests and lay people,  were invited to help us priests rediscover the joy in preaching. One lay speaker  spoke of the need for priests to better our homilies to offset what he termed a  “crisis in preaching.” I can only nod in agreement.  

But if we can speak of a crisis in preaching, I believe we can also speak of  a crisis in listening. I do not speak here of a collective hearing disability. I’m  not talking about an aural listening, i.e, to listen with one’s ears. I’m speaking  of a cardiac listening, i.e., to listen with one’s heart (from the Greek kardia or  heart). Notice, therefore, that at the heart of the word “heart” (pun intended),  is the word “ear.” Listening is, in essence, the proper function of the heart. 

This is why both First Reading and the Gospel of Mark remind us of a  “voice crying out in the desert,” calling us to prepare for the coming of the  Messiah. The desert is a place of silence. In fact, it is so silent, you can literally  hear the beating of your heart. 

What do you hear as December 25 approaches? The sound of carols, new  gadgets, get-togethers, eating binges? What makes you excited in the heart?  Christmas beckons. And as that day approaches, I think of that familiar  carol, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” What is that song inciting us to hear? It  beckons us to listen with our heart to “the child, the child, sleeping in the night,  He will bring us goodness and light. He will bring us goodness and light!”  This Christmas, let us remember to leave space in our hearts for the Child  who will bring us goodness and light. Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTION 

As Christmas approaches, listen to your heart. What do you hear? 

 

Amidst the many attractions of the Christmas season, attract my heart, O God. Amen.

 

Today, I pray for: __________________________________________________________