Listening to God is essential for cultivating the spiritual life.  During Lent a frequent refrain is “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.”  God speaks to us through multiple channels. It is dangerous and dumb to put his voice on mute.

Listen to Scripture

The Bible is God’s Word. Sometimes it can strike us like lightning. Our novice directress told us that the readings of the Mass on our birthday might hold a gift from God for us. My heart sank. My birthday was July 29, feast of St. Martha. Jesus chided her for being too busy about many things. So I assumed every year I would be scolded for being a workaholic. But one year I paid attention to the alternate first reading. It was from Jeremiah: “When I found your words, I devoured them. They became my happiness and the joy of my heart.” (Jeremiah 15:16) My adult life has centered on proclaiming and teaching God’s Word.

Even more pointed:  During my first year in the convent, I wondered if I should leave as many Sisters were doing back then. In our college chapel, I asked the Lord for advice. Since I was alone, I walked up to the open Bible in front of the chapel and my eyes fell on the passage where Peter asks what they will get for following him. Jesus says to him (and me), “Everyone who has left houses or brother or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my name’s sake will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29)  I stayed.

St. Augustine turned his life around and became a bishop after reading, “Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day , not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness…” (Romans 13:12-13)

Listen to Nature

God gave Noah the rainbow as a reminder of his promise. Jesus showed how birds and flowers teach about God’s providence. The buds bursting forth now and the light green haze coloring the forest trees tell us that life follows death. Features in nature speak of their Creator’s qualities:  mountains, his majesty and power; daisies, his gentleness; ants, his ingenuity; and platypuses, his sense of humor.

Listen to Other People

God sometimes speaks through others: authority figures, priests, and friends. The other day I was trying to decide if I should give a retreat in Africa. Listening to a Sister’s video about being our next provincial, I heard, “Remember, St. Julie Billiart said, ‘Our hearts must be as wide as the world.” Bingo! I knew what I had to do.

Our Blessed Mother at Fatima told us to pray a rosary daily for peace. What if we all did that?

Listen to Your Heart

God told the prophet Elijah he would reveal himself on a mountain. There was a great wind, an earthquake and a fire. God wasn’t in any of these but in a gentle whisper.

Sometimes a thought flashes through your mind, for example a good deed you could do. Don’t dismiss it. The thought could be a grace, a divine nudge. God might say things like, “Go visit that sick person. Bake cookies for a neighbor. Exercise for ten minutes.” He might even say, “I love you.”

Each evening you might scan the day to pinpoint God’s interior words to you. Consider how you reacted to them.

Messages in Prayer and Hymns

Probably God will not send Angel Gabriel to you as he did for Mary. Chances are he won’t attract you by a supernatural phenomenon like Moses’s burning bush. But in quiet times of prayer, you might hear God convey something to you. Maybe as you sing or listen to a hymn, a certain line will grab your attention.

Lessons in Experiences

Ponder your experiences. Is God telling you something by them? Does a failure mean you are too ambitious? Will the joy you experience after helping a person let you know you should do similar acts of charity more often? Does a friend’s betrayal teach you to be more cautious in choosing those who share your life?

One day I dialed a phone number and a man answered. I identified myself as Sister Kathleen. The man said I had the wrong number. Then he explained he was just sitting there wondering if God really existed. He wished he had a sign. Then I called.

Listen to Dreams

God spoke to Old Testament Joseph and to St. Joseph in dreams. Maybe God revealed something to you in a dream—at least once!

When has God spoken to you through Scripture?

What creature in nature communicates something about God to you?

What good advice are you happy you took?

When have you been glad you listened to the Voice within you?

A Special Video for Lent

I recommended the daily emails from Christian Art that present artwork related to the day’s Gospel along with a reflection by Fr. Patrick van der Vorst.  This week he sent a link to the Stations of the Cross he and company produced that is a series of living tableaux.  You might find it moving and inspiring: