Sunday Reflections

For years I tormented my Administrative Assistants.  They would tell me something, like, “Remember the meeting today at 2:30”., or “It looks like it is going to rain, take an umbrella”.  I would respond,  “Ha?”.  If I would not have heard properly I would have said, “I beg your pardon”, but most interpret it as I did not hear them properly and repeat it, to which I say again, “Ha?”.  Then most of them caught on that I am pulling their leg.  I am not only hearing them, but I am listening to them, and acknowledge that by my “Ha?”.

There is a difference between ‘hearing’ and ‘listening’.  We use the words interchangeably.  We are bombarded by sounds – all kinds of sources of noises and voices, welcomed and unwelcomed.  We ‘hear’ a lot, but what we ‘listen’ to is a choice.  We may ‘hear’ someone speaking to us – at home, school or at work – but we can’t always say that we are ‘listening’.  The person who asks us “What did I just say?” may be disappointed that we did not listen well.  We saw their lips move, we ‘heard’ the words, but we didn’t ‘listen’.  ‘Listening’ is an act of the will.

Today Jesus restores the hearing of a deaf man.  He says “Be opened!” and the man’s life changed forever.  He could hear! 

We can all ‘hear’, perhaps some better than others, but our challenge is to listen.  To us, Jesus also says “Be opened!”   He has a message for us – a vital message – but sometimes we are not listening.  

First of all, when we ‘listen’ to Jesus – really ‘listen’ – we will discover that the first thing He wants to tell us is that we are loved, that He is with us, and that we are precious to Him and his Father. 

Unfortunately, there is also ‘bad news’.  Other than the ‘good news’ that we receive from God, there is also ‘bad news’ – calling us to conversion, to be transformed in his love, to use better our time, talents and treasure as his followers.  When He has given us so much, He also asks us to use well that which He has given us.  Just like any parent, Jesus – out of love – corrects and guides us to make us more responsible and – ‘looking down the road’ – to make us happier, more secure and fulfilled.  It is like He is throwing us a life preserver – to preserve our life – but we are not listening.  Like any good parent, Jesus will call out to us again, and again, and again.  The ‘bad news’ converts into ‘good news’ when we realize that it is within our grasp – that we can change, that we can choose other ways of thinking, feeling, speaking and living.  Not ‘listening’ cuts us off from opportunities for growth and transformation.

In the gospel today Jesus restored hearing to the man.  May we be inspired to not only ‘hear’, but ‘listen’ to Jesus, and do His will.