Catching God’s voice

THIS is an art and skill we need acquire. Knowing that our

life is not just our own, but is always a life shared first of all

with God, our Creator and Father, and then with others, we have to

realize more deeply that we have this duty of learning how to catch

God’s voice not only in some special moments of our life, but also at

all times.

            Yes, God speaks to us all the time, and that’s simply

because he, being our Creator who can never withdraw his presence from

us, is the main protagonist in giving shape and direction to our life.

            We, of course, do our part, and others and everything else

in our life contribute in shaping our life, but it is God who

originally, abidingly and ultimately gives it shape and direction.

            We should not forget this very basic truth about

ourselves. God is still creating us. He is not yet finished with us.

We are still a work in progress, a divine project that is still under

construction. He wants us to be truly his image and likeness, to be

children of his, meant to share in his life and nature. We have to be

most aware of this truth and behave accordingly.

            But we have to learn how to catch his voice. We can

presume that being our Creator and Father who loves us to madness, he

is actually intervening in our life all the time. There is nothing in

our life where he is not involved. Even in our worst scenario, when we

fall into a big mess, with a big ugly sin defacing our soul, he is

around, even more solicitous of our condition than ever.

            He never leaves us. It is us who leaves him, ignores him

and even goes against him. We have to acknowledge this reality and do

our part to correct what is wrong or deficient in our relationship

with God.

            God himself reveals to us constantly, even through nature

itself. St. Paul said as much in his Letter to the Romans. “For what

can be known about God,” he said, “is plain to them, because God has

shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible

nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly

perceived in the things that have been made.” (1,19-20)

            We really have no excuse from not knowing God and not

hearing his voice. We just have to learn to be perceptive by

activating our faith always, always reminding ourselves that God must

be saying something to us now and we just have to find ways of how to

know what he is telling us.

            It’s our usual attitude of ignoring God or of taking him

for granted that makes us deaf to his words and blind to his will and

ways. We have to overcome that attitude by making many acts of

humility, reminding ourselves that we are nothing without him. The

only possibility we have when we are without him is to err and to

commit sin, even if we can say that we are having a grand time knowing

a lot of things in this world.

            We have to realize that even in the most secular and

mundane activity we have, God is always there. Even in our worst

condition when we are in a state of grave sin, God looks at us with

greater affection and understanding. Everything can and should be

relatable to God.

            We just have to put ourselves in the constant presence of

God, keeping always a dialogue with him, praising him, thanking him,

asking him for pardon and for favors. We should overcome whatever

fear, shame or awkwardness we may feel toward him, because the truth

is that however we are, God is always a father to us, full of love and

compassion for us.