In Acts 16: 11-15, Paul, seeking a place by the river to pray, meets Lydia, a wealthy woman who is a dealer of purple cloth and a worshipper of God. She “listened” to Paul and “the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.” Ever think of the fact that if you, or I, take the time to listen that the only way that we truly hear God’s words coming through the other is when God Himself opens our hearts. That means that my heart, your heart, is closed until God opens it. A prerequisite is that I am listening, truly listening! I may be outdoors enjoying the beauty and tranquility of nature without any awareness of the divine presence, unless God opens my heart. I may be at the Sacred Liturgy listening to the homily and hearing nothing—my heart will remain closed until God opens it. I may be reading the Holy Scriptures or a spiritual book or listening to another and hearing nothing, until God opens my heart! Am I willing to have God break open those parts of my heart that I may not even want God to enter? God waits until I am willing to allow Him to enter even the darkest, the most painful, the ugliest, the weakest part of my heart that needs to be healed, that needs to be flushed out by the grace of the present moment. Am I listening for God? Am I waiting upon God?
I might also ask myself whether I am seeking a place to pray, to open my heart to God, as was Paul. And, like Paul, am I willing to enter into conversation with a part of myself with which I am uncomfortable, with another whom society scorns, with another with whom I differ (Jewish men were not to speak to women in public)?
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