The setting for the Alleluia verse is in Philippi, on the shore of the river, where prayer was taking place. There was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, who was attending. The Bible passage states that God opened her heart to listen to what Paul was saying.

Our Alleluia today is “Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.”

Hearing and listening are different. I can hear my mother saying to my three brothers and me, “You’re not listening to me.” Hearing is an involuntary, passive process. Listening, however, is voluntary and an active process that requires you to focus with your brain to interpret what you hear. Listening involves responding to what is being communicated.

Have you and I allowed God to open our hearts to listening to him? Every time we are at Mass, we can hear the words from the Bible, but are we listening to God’s words?

I was stubborn for 38 and a half years. I heard God’s word every Sunday but did not listen. I did not put God’s word into practice in my daily living. That Frank Sinatra song “I did it my way” is very sad if that is how we live our lives…. our way. The only way to have love and peace and joy and contentment is to do life God’s way.

Open your Bible today to the Gospel of John or the Epistle of James and listen.

Father Eymard stated to Mme Josephine Gourd, July 1867: “Whatever it may be, we must always submit everything to our spiritual Director; that is God’s law for souls.” (Taken from A Year With Father Eymard by Father Erasto Fernandez, SSS).

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your patience with us as we journey seeking you above all else. In Jesus’ name. Amen.