God Listens. Lorene Hanley Duquin

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      Chapter 4

       “If Today You Hear His Voice …”

      Throughout Scripture, we see many different examples of God speaking to people. As Catholics, we are also familiar with stories from the lives of saints to whom God has spoken. Some people wonder if God still speaks to us today.

      The answer is yes. God does speak to us, and the way in which God speaks is always personal and unique.

      For some, it may be a mystical experience in which they hear the voice of God actually speaking aloud. For others, it is a deep interior voice that is not audible but is still very real. God sometimes uses nature, a personal crisis, or ordinary experiences as a vehicle for speaking to us. God also uses other people as instruments in communicating with us.

      It is not uncommon for God to speak to us through the words of Scripture. Reading a passage slowly, allowing the message to sink into our hearts, and then reflecting on what God is trying to tell us is a powerful way to hear what God is saying. The Lord also speaks through liturgy — the music, the readings, the homily, the prayers of the Mass, and during our own Communion meditation. It’s not unusual for different people, who were all present at Mass together, to come away with very individual messages from God.

      The key to hearing God’s voice is to be open to receiving God’s word. Most Catholics are familiar with responsorial Psalm 95, which urges, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

      Pope Francis suggests that we pray the powerful words that Eli recommended to Samuel when it became clear that the Lord was calling Samuel in the night: “Speak, LORD, because your servant is listening” (see 1 Samuel 3:1–10). “We should pray this many times a day,” Pope Francis advises, “when we have a doubt, when we do not know what to do, or when we want simply to pray.”

      The stories in this chapter illustrate some of the different ways people have heard the deep interior voice of God in answer to their prayers, and how these people responded to God’s message.

       “I Shall Work Through You”

      A good friend of mine called one day to ask if I would assist her with a very difficult task. Two children living in our area had both been born without an outer layer of skin on three-fourths of their bodies. They had to be bandaged daily because of a bloody discharge. The bandages had to be covered with Vaseline before they could be applied to the oozing tissue.

      I reminded my friend of my lack of nursing skills, my susceptibility to odors, and my weakness in observing open sores, but she still felt I was the one to help in this work of mercy. As the day drew closer for us to go to the home of these special souls, my courage began to fade. I found myself waking at night in prayer, only to be reassured over and over again that, “Yes, Nancy, I shall be with you, and I shall work through you.”

      The Lord did support us. I prayed as we went about our work applying the bandages. But my prayer was one of thanksgiving to God for allowing me the privilege of performing the hardest task of my entire life. The beauty of those deformed, bleeding souls was beyond anything I have ever experienced. The strength of God allowed me to go back another day and apply the bandages myself. Compassion and love filled my being. Jesus took away my pounding headache and my shaky knees.

      — Nancy Allaire Donohue

      Trusting God

      When faced with something that we know is beyond our human capabilities, we often find ourselves filled with fear and worry. It is in these anxiety-filled moments that we are called to trust God. The words of Isaiah remind us that trust in God will carry us through whatever difficulties we face in our lives:

      Have you not known? Have you not heard?

      The LORD is the everlasting God,

      the Creator of the ends of the earth.

      He does not faint or grow weary,

      his understanding is unsearchable.

      He gives power to the faint,

      and to him who has no might he increases strength. (Isaiah 40:28–29)

       God Was Directing Me

      Nearly two decades ago, my wife, Mary Lou, was hired to work at the circulation desk at the public library. At the end of her first week, she had lost her key to the library. This was no small matter. In the wrong hands, the key could open the door for the theft of hundreds of valuable books, audios, and videos. Re-keying the library would cost hundreds of dollars and may have cost Mary Lou her job.

      We prayed intently for the Lord to help us find the key. We even used my mother’s handy prayer that always seemed to work: “Jesus, lost and found, help us to find what we’ve lost.”

      Over the weekend, we searched everywhere. We dumped Mary Lou’s purses and briefcases. We scoured the van and the car. We raked through the lawn near the driveway. We ransacked the house. No key.

      On Monday morning, Mary Lou decided with fear СКАЧАТЬ