WE OUGHT TO HEAR

Tuesday, 17^th Week in Ordinary Time           

            “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

            Two men were walking along a crowded city sidewalk. Suddenly, one of the men remarked, “Listen to that lovely sound of that cricket.” But the other man could not hear the sound. So he asked his friend how he could hear the sound of a cricket amid the roar of the traffic and the sound of the people. Well, the first man, who was a zoologist, had trained himself to hear the sound of nature.

            He did not explain to his friend in words how he could hear the sound of the cricket, but instead, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a money coin… He dropped the coin onto the sidewalk… and watched intently as a dozen people began to look for the coin as they hear it clanking around amidst the sounds of the traffic and the sounds of the city. He turned to his friend and said, “We hear what we listen for.”

            Not only must we, Christians, have “ears to hear,” but we must learn what to listen for. We have to honestly examine ourselves and ask: Do we hear the voice of the Lord Jesus? Have we trained ourselves to hear the voice of the Lord amidst the noises and distractions of our daily life? Do we hear his voice in the depths of our conscience, in the pages of the Bible and teachings of the Church, and in the events and circumstances of our life? Have we given his voice a fair chance to be heard by spending enough time in prayer and meditation, or by listening to him as he speaks to us during Mass, or by paying attention to people he uses to talk to us?

            But, I think, the more basic question is: Do we really want to hear his voice? Maybe that is the problem with us: we hear everything else but Jesus. Baka mas pinakikinggan natin ang kalansing ng pera – tulad ng pinahihiwatig ng kuwento kanina. Maybe we listen more to the voice of wealth and power, or to the voice of selfish desires and wants, or to the voice of comfort and convenience. If we are not hearing his voice, then probably we are not following Jesus.

            Life is about hearing the right voice and following the right person. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” To be good sheep of the Good Shepherd we must learn to hear his voice – that is, to tune in to his voice.