HEARING TEST

“At the judgment, the citizens of Nineveh will rise along with the present generation, and they will condemn it. For at the preaching of Jonah they reformed, but you have a greater than Jonah here.” –Luke 11:32

When Jonah spoke, 120,000 wicked Ninevites listened and repented (Jon 3:10; 4:11). When Solomon spoke, the queen of the south “came from the farthest corner of the world to listen” (Lk 11:31). When Jesus speaks through the Church, in the Mass, through the Bible, and in our families, do we listen? How many of us are devoting ourselves to the apostles’ instructions, that is, the teachings of the Church? (see Acts 2:42) Are we reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Do we bother to find out what the Pope is teaching? Do we receive Jesus and His Word at Mass as much as possible? Do we use One Bread, One Body to help us sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His words at daily Mass? (see Lk 10:39) Because we take the Bible “not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God” (1 Thes 2:13), do we make time to read the Bible daily? Are we open to the Lord speaking to us through our family and the people we see each day? Is there any subject that we will not allow even God to mention to us?

Ask the Lord for the grace to listen to Him in your most difficult circumstance. Repent and feel your spiritual ears open. Deny yourself and hear Jesus’ words: “Blest are your ears because they hear. I assure you, many a prophet and many a saint longed to…hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Mt 13:16-17). “Let him who has ears heed the Spirit’s word” (Rv 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).

PRAYER: Father, may I hear that You are Lord alone, and may I love You with all my heart (Dt 6:4-5).
PROMISE: “It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time!” –Gal 5:1
PRAISE: When Jonathan truly heard the Word of God speak to him, he became a new man in Christ.