20160128 LISTENING TO GOD AND OTHERS FOR UNDERSTANDING
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
First reading
|
2 Samuel
7:18-19,24-29 ©
|
After Nathan had
spoken to him, King David went in and, seated before the Lord, said: ‘Who am I,
O Lord, and what is my House, that you have led me as far as this? Yet in your
sight, O Lord, this is still not far enough, and you make your promises extend
to the House of your servant for a far-distant future. You have constituted
your people Israel to be your own people for ever; and you, Lord, have become
their God.
‘Now, O
Lord, always keep the promise you have made your servant and his House, and do
as you have said. Your name will be exalted for ever and men will say, “The
Lord of Hosts is God over Israel.” The House of your servant David will be made
secure in your presence, since you yourself, Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, have
made this revelation to your servant, “I will build you a House”; hence your
servant has ventured to offer this prayer to you. Yes, Lord, you are God
indeed, your words are true and you have made this fair promise to your
servant. Be pleased, then, to bless the House of your servant, that it may
continue for ever in your presence; for you, Lord, have spoken; and with your
blessing the House of your servant will be for ever blessed.’
Psalm
|
Psalm
131:1-5,11-14 ©
|
The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David.
O Lord, remember
David
and all
the many hardships he endured,
the oath he swore to
the Lord,
his vow
to the Strong One of Jacob.
The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David.
‘I will not enter the
house where I live
nor go to
the bed where I rest.
I will give no sleep
to my eyes,
to my
eyelids I will give no slumber
till I find a place
for the Lord,
a
dwelling for the Strong One of Jacob.’
The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David.
The Lord swore an
oath to David;
he will
not go back on this word:
‘A son, the fruit of
your body,
will I
set upon your throne.
The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David.
‘If they keep my
covenant in truth
and my
laws that I have taught them,
their sons also shall
rule
on your
throne from age to age.’
The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David.
For the Lord has
chosen Zion;
he has
desired it for his dwelling:
‘This is my
resting-place for ever;
here have
I chosen to live.
The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David.
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Ph2:15-16
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the
world like bright stars
because you are
offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
Or
|
Ps118:105
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is a lamp
for my steps
and a light for my
path.
Alleluia!
Gospel
|
Mark 4:21-25 ©
|
Jesus said to his
disciples, ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed?
Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it
must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light. If anyone
has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
He
also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing. The amount you measure
out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who has
will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken
away.’
LISTENING
TO GOD AND OTHERS FOR UNDERSTANDING
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 2 SM 7:18-19, 24-29; PS 132:1-2, 3-5, 11, 12, 13-14; MK 4:21-25
There
is an innate desire in each of us to know more and more. We have many questions on our mind,
but sometimes no answers seem to satisfy. Or the answers that we receive
only satisfy us for a while. For this reason, we are in constant search
to understand ourselves, the world we live in, and God.
But
how do we really come to a greater understanding of the mysteries of life?
The gospel tells us that it all depends on the way we listen. Twice in the
gospel, Jesus spoke about hearing. In the first parable, he concluded
with ‘Let him who has ears to hear me, hear!’ In the second parable, he
prefaced it by warning his listeners, ‘Listen carefully to what you
hear.’ The key message of Jesus therefore is one of listening.
The
greatest obstacle to hearing, according to Jesus, is that we do not really hear.
We think we are hearing, but actually we hear only ourselves, but never give
ourselves fully to the other. Indeed, most of us behave like one who
acquired a lamp in order to put it under a basket or hide it under a bed.
This may seem ludicrous to us. But this is actually how we all behave in
real life.
Very
often, we seek the views of others, but how often do we really listen and
absorb what is being said? Often what we are only interested in
is to confirm what we want to hear about ourselves. We hope that these
people will support our beliefs and ideas. We are not open to what new
things they have to tell us. And so if their ideas fit in with ours, we
say that they give good advice, but if they do not, we brush them aside and
conclude that they are not very helpful, or that they talk nonsense. We
do not even try to assimilate and think deeper into whether there is truth in
what they say.
It is
the same too in prayer. We often seek God for what we want to hear.
We read the bible according to what we want to hear and therefore interpret the
text according to our own liking. When we act thus, it means that we are
simply not ready to confront ourselves. We are not really interested to
know more about ourselves, especially those things that we do not wish to hear.
That is
why Jesus tells us in the second parable that if we really want to discover
life, then we will need to listen carefully. In the measure that we
give ourselves to the other person by listening attentively with our whole
being, and not planning another answer in our head, or be impaired by our own
preconceived ideas while the other person is speaking, by that measure we will
be able to grasp fully what that person is saying. With the knowledge
that one gains from the other, combined with our own, our understanding of the
situation will be twice enriched. That is what Jesus meant when He says
that ‘In the measure you give you shall receive, and more besides.’
But when
we give little attention to what the person is saying, then even the little
that we know about the world will be taken away. Yes, total listening
is total receiving. Failure to listen totally not only causes us to miss
benefitting from the other person’s wisdom, but it can even be destructive,
because we risk misunderstanding the message, which in turn could result in
immense trouble for ourselves and others.
Today King
David gives us the model for listening in prayer. In his prayer we
see the basic ingredients of total listening: his humility in the face of
all that God has given him; his praise and thanksgiving for his loving deeds;
his confident petition for his continued help in the future.
Let us
pray in a similar manner – that in our relationship with God and with others,
we may be humble enough to realize that we know very little in life. Only
in humility will we be truly open to the other person. It is also in
humility that our spirit will be receptive to hear what God wants to tell us,
whether it is in prayer, through contemplation of the scriptures, or through
the counsel of those in authority or of friends.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment