It's truly amazing that when the Lord wants something from us, He keeps reinforcing it. I went to mass yesterday and when I heard the first reading, I knew I had to pay close attention to the homily because there would definitely be a message for me.
Samuel is having a hard time recognizing the Lord's voice. God calls him three times and even though he hears the call, he doesn't realize that the voice belongs to God. In his homily, Father Emanuele de Nigris, the pastor from St. Cecilia Catholic Church, said something that I had never thought about before. He said that "listening requires humility." If you think about it, that is so true. Most of us love to talk but have a hard time listening.
In order to recognize God's voice, we need to be humble. Otherwise, His voice may get lost among all the noise in the world. In 2009 I was very blessed to attend one of the last Spiritual Exercises led by Father Amado Llorente. He passed away in 2010. Father Llorente gave us some tips to help us discern what God wants from us. He told us that if we have to choose between two different options and we are not sure which option is the one God would like us to pick, to follow these steps:
1. Pray to God for enlightenment.
2. Do a list of pros and cons for each of the options.
3. Think which option would you prefer to have accomplished if you were to die tomorrow.
4. If it was a friend the one that had this dilemma and he/she came to you for advice, what would you advice them to do?
More than likely, by the time you get to the 4th step, you will clearly know what God wants from you.
A few years ago I found myself with two different options to choose from. Both were good options and both seemed to be coming from God, but I just didn't have the time to commit my time to both. I followed the above steps and God clearly led me where He needed me. I was very happy because when we accept His call and we are obedient, He will fill us with joy.
Even though I don't always attend mass where he preaches, I receive Father Robert Vallee's homilies by email. In his homily yesterday, he shared some insight that is very important to keep in mind. "We must do that which makes us happy. And we are not going to figure it out in our heads. We are going to figure it out by listening to the silence in our hearts. That's where God speaks."
God is not going to ask anything of us that will bring us unhappiness. It may be hard. It may be difficult. But it will ultimately bring us happiness.
Father Vallee concluded his homily with these wise words: "It took Samuel a while to figure out that God was calling him and even longer to figure out what God was calling him to. It takes all of us a while to figure out the call as well. But keep at it. It is worth it. On the day you stop chasing your dearest dream, on the day you stop listening for the voice of God, on that day, you get old."
No comments:
Post a Comment