Today’s Old Testament reading from Isaiah states that, “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear.” It is almost as if we have two “kingdoms” doing battle inside us. We take in the Word from God and other spiritual sources but then we give out words that are not exactly from the Lord.

I once heard a religious superior give the following advice to her fellow sisters:

When speaking, ask yourself the following:

Is it true?

Is it kind?

Is it necessary?

 

This is one step on a pathway to personal holiness. Holiness is an arduous process. Hence this kind of personal censorship, one of the tasks of holiness, is difficult. It also starts, not with speaking, but with hearing. Silence. Attentiveness. Listening.

Once we enter into this silent place with God, questions arise. We begin to share “the questions of the exiles:”

Where is God now? Will I ever feel close to God again?

This could then lead us also to go to a second level:

What am I supposed to learn from this? Could my pain profit anyone?

 

Joe Tremblay is a university professor and leads Adult Faith Formation in Green Bay. He writes for Sky View, a current event and topic-driven Catholic blog. He was a contributor to The Edmund Burke Institute, and a frequent guest on Relevant Radio’s, The Drew Mariani Show. Joe is also married with five children. Joe comments that there are various ways of “listening.” A different “way of listening to the Lord is to accept the circumstances of each day as his will. In fact, the Saints teach that this is the content of God’s daily revelation to us.

 

The people who were personally caught up in the events of Passion Sunday had to wonder what exactly was going on. This was certainly not what they had in mind in terms of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Thus, they had to “listen” with different ears to the circumstances of the Passion….

… until Easter, when a “new song” began to be played.

Audio version of the homily is here: