In a world where so many voices clamour to be heard and so few people are willing to spend time listening to others, the Church continues to call us all to a more attentive way of being. To make the space and the silence to listen to God, to the movements of our own heart, and to those around us. Pope Francis encouraged us to be a Synodal Church, where careful listening is the foundation of spiritual conversation and discernment. These skills are essential for every disciple of Jesus, but especially those who are called to be priests.
Japanese characters or Kanji distinguish between hearing and listening. “To hear” consists of two parts: at the centre is the character that represents an ear. On the outside the lines represent a swinging gate (like a saloon) – our ears are the entrance gate for sound or words to come and go! The character that means “to listen” consists of other elements: The top left has the same character for the ear. The centre lines represent the eye and beneath are lines representing the heart or soul. To listen to the heart or soul of another through their eyes.
In the opening words of the Rule of St Benedict he writes, “Listen with the ear of the heart”, Benedict, in his Rule, expects us to be constantly striving to listen to God’s voice: most of all in the Scriptures; in the liturgy and communal prayer; in personal prayer and study of the Church’s teaching. But also, through the Abbot; brother monks in the community; guests; and to the sick and vulnerable.
In every Christian community, this listening with the ear of the heart, described above, enables growth in freedom that we may flourish in unity with Christ and each other - that all may be encouraged and supported in their particular way of the cross - The way which leads to the fulness of life as each becomes more fully, another Christ. In our listening and discernment, we ask, how and where is the Holy Spirit calling us to deepen our union with God and with others? Can we identify the authentic voice of Christ that is leading us to build up the kingdom of God?
The Trappist monk and Abbot, Francis Kline, wrote about the Lord’s Prayer in which we pray, “thy kingdom come”. He reflected back to his childhood and tried to remember those things which he asked of his parents. He asks himself, “How often were these requests made as a group of siblings united? When did we discuss something together as children before approaching our parents to ask for it?”
The challenge of our discernment as a community is identifying those things which the Holy Spirit helps us to discern as being important. The Holy Spirit wishes to unite us as one community in Christ, so that in Him we can come to know the Father’s will and contribute to the building of God’s Kingdom.
