the art of listening - 26th week friday

Today we read from the book of Baruch.  Baruch was the secretary or the scribe of the Prophet Jeremiah.  Today’s reading is the start of the prayer of lamentation and contrition.  These are the two themes that would mark this short book.  The two sins that are singled out in this cry of lament are the sins of disobedience and the failure to listen.  The words, “For we did not heed the voice of the Lord, our God” are repeated here twice like a chorus, like a refrain.

Obedience is the joining of two Latin words ob and audire meaning “to hear or to listen towards”.  This implies not just simply listening, but listening for the purpose of heeding, with the intent of doing what was said, so that one can follow and comply.  Obedience is first and foremost listening.  We cannot obey when we do not listen and listen well at that.  Thus in Baruch Israel lamented their disobedience as a people because “they did not heed the voice of the Lord.”

We need to recover the art of listening, we need to hone our facility in listening.  We need to teach once more listening skills.  We have become attention deficit – there are just so many distractions that prevent us from truly listening.  And it is not just noise that prevents us from listening.  I saw one group of people silently sitting together on the table, with heads bowed, looking at their phones. 

It is noteworthy to remember that God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we may listen more than we talk.  We will never learn the virtue of obedience when we have not learned the art of listening well. 

Today we celebrate the feast of our guardian angels.  We believe that God’s care for each one of us is so personal thus he gave each of us angels to watch over us.  Pope Francis said, “No one journeys alone and no one should think that they are alone.”  The Pope noted that oftentimes, we have the feeling that “I should do this, this is not right, be careful.” This, he said, “is the voice of” our guardian angel”