Listening
This year, I would first like to consider the importance of making room for the
word through listening . The willingness to listen is the first way we demon-
strate our desire to enter into relationship with someone.
In revealing himself to Moses in the burning bush, God himself teaches us
that listening is one of his defining characteristics: “I have observed the mis-
ery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry” (Ex 3:7). Hearing
the cry of the oppressed is the beginning of a story of liberation in which the
Lord calls Moses, sending him to open a path of salvation for his children who
have been reduced to slavery.
Our God is one who seeks to involve us. Even today he shares with us what
is in his heart. Because of this, listening to the word in the liturgy teaches us
to listen to the truth of reality. In the midst of the many voices present in our
personal lives and in society, Sacred Scripture helps us to recognize and re-
spond to the cry of those who are anguished and suffering. In order to foster
this inner openness to listening, we must allow God to teach us how to lis-
ten as he does . We must recognize that “the condition of the poor is a cry
that, throughout human history, constantly challenges our lives, societies,
political and economic systems, and, not least, the Church.”
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