Where is Jesus calling us to “come”? What are the fears we must face to fulfill his will in our lives?
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
When Peter spoke during the Transfiguration about setting up tents, he was practically told to be silent and just take in the experience. How often do we miss God’s message simply because we want to add our two cents. It’s often tempting to participate when God is providing an answer. We want to augment it, make it more meaningful in our eyes. But there is no greater beauty than God’s simple but profound answers to prayers. We can’t improve the answers in any way. They require no commentary. They are what is, and they are all we need. So, listen to what God is saying to you through this story of the Transfiguration this week.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
Discovering our purpose is a daily task that requires daily prayer and daily listening for God’s voice. I try to find quiet time in the morning to ask God what he wants me to do that day, and quiet time in the evening to reflect upon how I did in fulfilling the tasks I believe he gave me. If we pray often enough, we truly can have this kind of conversational relationship with God. That kind of relationship is what God intends. It is how we find our pearl of great price.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
When Jesus offers a parable, it is an opportunity to listen not only to his words but the world around us as well, because he is pointing out a precise way in which God has already written the gospel all of the natural world he created. In this Gospel passage in Matthew, he is telling us to be patient with those to whom we evangelize. The early stages of their walk with God may not look the way we expected them to look. Remember The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson, who often placed subtle Christian themes like this one in his stories. An ugly weed may turn into a beautiful flower, just like an ugly duckling turns into a beautiful swan. So let a person’s faith life develop naturally, and see what happens. God may have different ideas than our own. Sometimes the harvest does not turn out as we planned. Our idea of unity and uniformity may not be what God had in mind. So when we evangelize, it doesn’t hurt to be patient. God will reveal in time those weeds that are truly harmful to the harvest, but if we condemn those who do not conform to our idea of what the Church should look like, we may disenfranchise those who have good, creative ideas that actually fit into the Church’s teachings quite well—without contradicting the eternal truth God has already taught us.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
“Whoever has ears ought to hear”
If we have been blessed with the gift of hearing, we ought to listen to his preaching and spread that gospel. We ought to spread that gospel to those who can’t hear, by living it out with our actions and writing about it. We ought to spread it to the blind by preaching the gospel with our voice. There is always some way to spread the gospel to someone, no matter what thorns they have are experiencing in life. But first, we have to receive the gospel properly. The first step in spreading the gospel is listening to it in whatever way we can. One of the best ways to listen is to be quiet and still after reading Scripture, and contemplating on the mysteries we just read.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
This week’s Sunday Gospel is all about taking Jesus’ words to heart. Sometimes he does something in the Gospel to give us faith. But this time he just wants us to listen. How golden these words are though! If we just saw the amazing wisdom in Jesus’ every word, we would treat them like our paycheck. His words are money in paradise’s bank if we keep them and live by them. We store up our treasures in heaven when we use them to guide our lives.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
We can’t know the specific cross Christ asks us to bear unless we know him well, and we can’t know him well unless we pray regularly. Through prayer, we are shown the Father’s will. We are shown it through the most important part—the listening part. For prayer is a conversation with God, and if all we do is say our prayers we will never experience conversion.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
It is essential to begin and end lectio divina with God’s voice. We start with his words from Scripture, and then we end by listening to how that word specifically applies to our lives. How is God speaking to you through this Gospel right now? What has he whispered to you in the dark, in the quiet of your heart when you were all alone? This is the power of his voice. He can use the same words to say something different to each of us.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
We can discover new truths in every Gospel passage, every time we read it, if we listen closely enough. This time I see that Jesus is saying the Kingdom of Heaven is all around us. It’s right here on earth, and when we die we will simply continue to live in it. On the other hand, when we do not listen to God, we can easily lose hope and fail to see the Kingdom of Heaven all around us. I’m sure we’ve all experienced moments when we felt like this life and this world is all there is. Let’s write that off to the feebleness of our minds, not that vanity of existence; because existence is not vain if we can see God’s kingdom and intent for it all. We can then see eternity and infinity, and all the opportunities they present to us in this present moment, God’s gift to us.
Kilby is a freelance writing from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report.
