2 January 2018
Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
In St Basil the Great’s homily On Faith (De fide), he said, “Now if you want to say or hear something about God, break free from your body, break free from your sense perceptions, leave behind the earth, leave behind the sea, rise above the air, fly past the hours of day, the cycles of the seasons, the rhythms of the earth, climb above the aether, pass beyond the stars, their marvels, their harmonious order, their immense size, the benefits they supply to all, their good arrangement, their splendor, their position, their motion, their constellations and oppositions. Once you have passed beyond all things in your thoughts, transcended the heaven, and risen above it, behold the beauty there with your mind alone: the heavenly armies, the choirs of angels, the dignities or archangels, the glories of the dominions, the preeminence of the thrones, the powers, the principalities, the authorities.”
A few years ago, I found that my prayers were dry because Jesus was silent whenever I tried to talk to him. He never said anything back to me. When I brought my concern to my spiritual director, he reminded me that I was too busy talking, telling God what I want, and, even telling him how to be God. I was busy talking and did not give God an opportunity to speak. So my spiritual director reminded me that the value of prayer is not that God will hear me, but rather that I will finally hear God. This passive listening prayer is hard and painful work, but we all need to communicate to God with a quiet, patient, calm manner so that God may reign over our hearts.
John the Baptist calls himself ‘A voice crying out in the desert’. “Crying in the desert” might also reflect our desire to listen to God’s voice. Are our desires places in our lives where we feel that we are “crying in the desert,” yearning to listen to God’s voice? Let us listen to Jesus now and open our ears so as to let him speak to us as He hears our cry.