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Pentecost, May 19, 2024
Diane DeDominics • June 10, 2024
Pentecost
May 19, 2024
In the reading today from Acts of the Apostles we hear how the disciples spoke and those gathered heard them in their own language. One of the gifts of the spirit is the gift of tongues.
With this gift, those who have been given it, are able to speak in many languages. Another gift of the spirit is the gift of interpretation of tongues. When someone has the gift of tongues someone else is needed to interpret the gift. Today those who have the gift praise God in an angelic voice, but few can understand what is being said.
Many can hear the words, but few are able to listen and understand what is being said. Often, we hear the words spoken to us but do not listen or act upon them.
Hearing and listening are two different actions. Hearing and listening are different actions.
Emerson once said, “Who you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you are saying.” Often, we cannot hear the other for we prejudge their words by what we expect them to say. We can be so busy fashioning our response to what we think they are saying that we do not listen to what is being said to us.
Pope Francis has invited our worldwide church to enter into a process of Synod. The focus of the Synod is listening to each other. The structure of the synod process is each person having a period to speak. The others simply listen, no comments are made. Each person has time to share his/her views and the others simply listen. This is the model we used in our diocese and has been used in Rome.
Fr. Timothy Radcliffe OP the retreat director for the Rome sessions has published his retreat talks under the title of Listening Together. In his reflections Fr. Radcliffe spoke about Hope, Home in God, Friendship, Authority and the Spirit of Truth.
As we listen to the spirit, we find that we are all united in our goal of the kingdom of God. We may not always agree, but we find we have a common goal. In listening to each other, we may find friendship.
Here is what Fr. Radcliffe has to say about friendship:
Preaching the Gospel is never just communicating information. It is an act of friendship. A hundred years ago, Vincent McNabb, OP said ‘Love those to whom you preach. If you do not, do not preach. Preach to yourself. St. Domonic was said to have been loved by all since he loved all. St. Catherine of Siena was surrounded by a circle of friends, men and women, lay and religious. They were known as the Caterinati, the Catherine people. St. Martin De Porres is often shown with a cat, a dog and a mouse eating from the same dish. A good image of religious life and of the synod.
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