Circumstances that Prepare us to Hear the Lord

In today’s first reading, 1 Samuel 3: 1-10, 19-20, Samuel is awakened three times. Each time he thinks that Eli, his master, is calling him, so he goes to Eli, awakens him and says: “Here I am; you called me.”   Finally Eli realizes that it is the Lord calling him so he says to Samuel: “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening’.”  Note that it is in the dark of night. It is silent and, more importantly, Samuel, too, is silent, not distracted by the busyness or distractions of the day.  Furthermore,   Samuel relies on an elder, a trusted individual, to show him the way, as he” was not familiar with the Lord, because the Lord had not revealed anything to him as yet.”  Jesus, in today’s Gospel, after a very busy day, rises “very early before dawn,” and goes off to a deserted place to pray—a place apart from the busyness and distractions of His life.

From both Scriptures, we learn how important it is to take time to listen to the Lord, to hear His voice and the circumstances under which we are more likely to be predisposed to hear the Spirit speaking to us: in the quiet, in darkness, in a deserted place, by being instructed by our elders (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, counselors, trusted friends/peers, anyone  familiar with and genuinely devoted to the Lord; in short, persons of integrity)  and, especially people like Eli devoted to the ministry of the Temple/the Church: priests and women and men religious, deacons and others in the service of the Church who exemplify a life of prayer, are devoted to the Scriptures,  holy reading and, in short, seek God above all else and, yes, are persons of integrity.

What circumstances do you create in your life to hear the voice of the Lord?

Preparing Oneself to Recognize Good Spirits

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.  Of all of the babies being brought to the Temple that day, how would Simeon know which one was Jesus, the Messiah? Babies all look alike, do they not?  His guide was the Holy Spirit!  He could not go wrong in recognizing which baby was the Holy One of God.  You and I are guided by the same Holy Spirit, who points out who is/is not of God, which is/which is not the path to our God.  The difficulty comes from the fact that we have both good spirits and bad spirits at work within and around us.  The angels who rebelled against God—bad spirits-- prowl this world, seeking persons to lead astray.   Good angels, good spirits, also roam this world and direct us toward God’s way, put God’s thoughts within us, warn us of danger, of that which denigrates us or lies to us. Simeon practiced listening to good spirits, the Holy Spirit, guiding him.  We, too, can learn how to discern good from bad spirits. God has equipped us with the same openness to the Holy Spirit. In prayer, in solitude, we learn to listen. One way to develop the ability to hear God’s voice and become still in prayer is to practice centering prayer. What is that? Centering prayer is focusing on a word that still us, such as “Jesus,” “God,” “Love,” “Peace.”   When our thoughts stray, come back to the word  we have chosen, such as the name of “Jesus” to re-enter the stillness.  We will be training ourselves to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice.