Listening

Ave Maria! Every issue of Catholic Digest contains a regular feature called "Quiet Moment," which gives a thoughtful quote for each day of the month. These quotes come from a variety of sources -- such as Scripture, the saints, the popes, and various holy men and women throughout the ages -- and they always stimulate my heart and mind. In today's Quiet Moment, Pope Paul VI speaks to us from his first encyclical, Ecclesiam Suum, promulgated on August 6, 1964. I quote him directly from the Vatican's English translation of this document.

"...before speaking, we must take great care to listen not only to what men say, but more especially to what they have it in their hearts to say. Only then will we understand them and respect them, and even, as far as possible, agree with them."

On the physical level alone, I know how hard it can be to listen because I have a severe sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. I wear a hearing aid in one ear (my hearing is too far gone in the other ear for an aid to help), but even with that, there are more than a few sounds that I miss, consonants among them. Lip-reading provides some helpful clues, but many variables work against me such as background noise and a person's tendency to mumble. When someone speaks to me, I must be very attentive, focused on that individual alone to the exclusion of all else. Without such care, I cannot really respond to what that person actually said rather than what I thought I heard.

How true this is as well for the listening-to-the-heart that Pope Paul VI spoke of! At the beginning of Ecclesiam Suum, he made clear his objective: "The aim of this encyclical will be to demonstrate with increasing clarity how vital it is for the world, and how greatly desired by the Catholic Church, that the two should meet together, and get to know and love one another." How can any of us possibly get to know and love each other if we fail to listen to each other's hearts? And how can I hear what is in the heart of another without "great care" as well as honor and respect for that unique individual whom God has made in His image and likeness? To listen in this way requires that I die to myself in order that the other person may truly live and shine forth in the present moment wherein God has brought us together in His love. How very vital indeed!

Dear Lord, teach me how to listen as You did. Reveal to me the obstacles that hinder me in this divine task You have given us and help me to overcome them for the sake of Your love and unity. Amen.