The value of listening

The feast of St. Joseph, March 19, is a celebration of a great saint who was a layman. Like many of the laity, St. Joseph lived his life working to take care of his family, rearing together with his wife, the Blessed Mother, the child or children entrusted by God to them.

Children are gifts. Parents look after children as a very important responsibility. We can surely see the influence of the parents when we look at their children; in this case, Jesus.

The narratives in the Bible do not have a record of St. Joseph uttering a single word. He was told what to do in his dreams, and executed them without delay. An active life presupposes a life of prayer, and a big part of prayer is listening closely related to the Latin word for ‘obedience’, ‘audire’ meaning, “pay attention to” or “listen to”. It is not just a ‘yes’ or following blindly out of fear.

Like Joseph, Abraham also must have been a listening person. He was seventy-five when he was told to leave his homeland where, so far, he invested his productive life. Abraham’s journey was uncertain. Upon arrival in Canaan, Abraham was told to circumcise himself. He was later told to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.

Our plans seem to be the best course of action, but if we listen carefully, discern well, we see patterns in the events of our life, like fillers that God sends. We gain access to his plans, but sometimes when we encounter setbacks in our leap of faith because of some irrational hints or when the tempo of grace seems to momentarily disappear and only a deafening silence confronts us, we back out.Even beyond our expectations. Inner-peace and joy in the way we do things are but a few signs from the best paymaster.

A Jesuit priest once asked a scholastic, “Do you want God to last?” The scholastic joyfully said, “Yes! But what is the caveat, Father?” The priest answered, “Include Him in your plans.”

The Blessed Mother in her prayerful disposition said ‘yes’. Let us ask her to teach us to listen to God in our prayers. (Johnny Sulit)