Hannah's song: biased listening. december 22

For the past seven months, I have been reflecting on our responsorial psalm and so in this mass I would like to continue reflecting on the psalms. (it's not actually from the book of psalm but from Samuel - the canticle of Hannah.)

Our responsorial psalm when listened to carefully seems not to correspond to our expectations.   It does not tally with what our mind anticipates.  Allow me to illustrate this with a story.

A priest went to the bishop one day and asked the bishop to transfer him to another parish.  Why, asked the bishop?  The priest replied, "Because my parishioners do not like me anymore.  Every time I give a homily, they do not listen and many of them are sleeping.  So the bishop said to the priest, ""Not to worry Father, I will teach you how to give a homily so that your parishioners will listen to you.  This is what you will say to them:  "My dear brothers and sisters, I came to know of a beautiful woman, she is a mestiza, she has a beautiful nose, she has rosy white skin, and she has a lovely face.  Every morning I visit her, and every noon time too, in fact I also visit her every evening, and I would say goodnight to her before I go to sleep.  I am in love with this woman, and her name is Mary."

So the priest obedient to his bishop, went back to his parish, and that very Sunday he rose to give homily.  He was nervous as usual. "Will they listen to me now?" he silently ask.  As he climb the pulpit people were already yawning and the poor priest felt devastated.  Nevertheless he started his homily saying, "my dear brothers and sisters."  His voice was shaking.  "Our bishop told me that he is in love with a beautiful woman."  The people sprung to attention.  Some were even seen shaking the people near them telling them to listen.  "The woman our bishop is so in love with is a mestiza, she has a beautiful nose, she has rosy white skin, and she has a lovely face."  Now the congregation were all fully awake.  All ears and all eyes were now directed to the priest wanting to hear his every word.  And all the more, the priest became nervous and shaking, but he continued saying, "the bishop visits her every morning, noon and evening."  People were dumbfounded with mouths open but not wanting to miss a word they were so silent and listened intently.  "Before he sleeps the bishop visits her again."  The people were now becoming restless, and seeing the reaction of the people, the priest himself was becoming tense and anxious, but he continued saying, "and the name of the woman," the people took a deep breath holding on to their pews, "and the name of the woman," the priest was perspiring profusely, "and the name of the woman, her name was, her name.. what was her name ... O I'm so sorry I forgot the name of the woman."

A week later the bishop transferred the priest.

This morning a priest asked what the sermon was and some people told him the story which was all that they remembered.  So please don't put me in a bad light.  That was just a story, now listen to the lesson.

The story illustrates to us one of the many types of listening.  It is called biased listening.  The people in the story were listening to the priest but their minds were already making conclusions.  They were actually getting ahead of the story which explains their interest, because they expected something, they want to hear something.  As they say, people want to hear what they want to hear.  They had stereotypes in their minds that when a man, this time a bishop, which was all the more interesting, when a bishop visits a beautiful lady in the morning, at noon and in the evening, and even visits her before he sleeps, something creepy was really going on.  I think our grandparents have a word for that – malisyoso.  That is an example of a biased listening.

I illustrated to you this type of listening, biased listening, because our responsorial psalm is destroying this kind of listening by presenting to us something different, something which we do not expect, something unusual, a departure from the stereotypes we formed in us.

We are used to hearing brave soldiers bearing modern and powerful weapons winning the war and the weak soldiers losing the war.  But our psalm says, “The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering, the weak, gird on strength." This is not the usual thinking, this is not the usual 1 plus 1 = 2. 

We are used to understand that the well-fed are rich and they have more than they can eat, they have supplies which will not make them hungry.  And we know by logic and experience that the hungry have no food because they are poor.  But our psalm says:  The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry batten on spoil."  This is not how things are in the world, this is not how things happen usually.

We are used to see pictures of barren women or men who are alone, sa ila golden anniversary duha man sila gihapon gapapicture.  But then the husband and wife blessed with children are surrounded by their children and even by their grandchildren in a beautiful picture everyone is proud of.  But the psalm say things differently.  It says The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes.”  Something is not right in this picture.  This is unexpected.  This is something altogether different.

Our responsorial psalm, just like our gospel, is telling us to open our minds to new possibilities in our life now that Jesus is coming.  Our responsorial psalm is telling us to abandon that biased listening and entertain the possibility that one plus one will not always be two, that a time will come, and this is coming, when what people used to see they will no longer, what people never dreamed of will now become reality, what people do not expect, will happen before their eyes. All these new things, all these new possibilities because Jesus comes, Jesus is allowed to enter our hearts, because Jesus is allowed to be born in our hearts.

I remember six years ago Christmas eve, December 24, I was alone in the seminary and I was praying in the chapel and I told the Lord, "Lord you know, you did so much for me, kadamo na sang ginbuhat mo para sa akon, now on your birthday what do you want me to do for you this Christmas." 

And you know what, somebody answered, of course only inside my head and he said, stop smoking, quit smoking.  O my God, why did I ask, naghinulsol ako nga namangkot pa ako.  But I remember that very night I smoked my last stick of cigarette because I dared to ask the Lord the question - "Lord you did so much for me, what do you want me to do for you this Christmas?"  If you are not ready for the answer, don't ask that question.  Too dangerous.  You do not know what Jesus will be asking from you.  But dare yourself.  Don't be so used to what is. TO stereotypes you formed about yourself.  Open yourself to possibilities, new possibilities, because when Jesus comes, when Jesus is allowed to come, expect something new, expect also something hard, very hard, but expect something beautiful in the end.