When we listen to God, we feel the love of God. If we accept who God is calling us to be, we feel great joy. If we become who God has always intended us to be, we become our real selves. Upon following the will of God, we welcome God into our hearts, and thus welcome love into our hearts.* Love reigns in hearts which are fully open to God.
At times God calls us in ways we can hear with the ears of our bodies. At other points God speaks to us in ways which resonate deep in our souls.
Yesterday when I was walking up to the church for Mass, the church bells were ringing. I heard not only the reverberating volume of the sonorous bells vibrating against my eardrums. I also felt echoing in my soul how I had been previously called to prayer by resonating bells.
I was reminded of when I was traveling in Europe, right after I had finished serving in the Peace Corps in Morocco. At one point during those travels in Europe, I found a church by following the sound of the tolling of the church bells.
Yesterday as I approached the church, I thought too of when I lived at the hermitage in Big Sur. In that Benedictine monastic community, where I thought I was going to become a monk, the church bell sounds before each Mass and each recitation of the Divine Office, in which Psalms are sung and spoken. The monks, upon hearing the church bell, proceed to the church for Mass or the Divine Office. They do their best both to hear the call and to follow it.
We can be guided by what we hear. God directs us too through the Holy Spirit speaking to us deep within us.
God is calling out to us. As Jesus told us, anyone who has ears should listen.** When we listen, and submit to God's will, and obediently follow the calling God has ordained for us, we find true joy, for then we find our true selves, and become who God has always meant us to be. As we live out our vocations, we become who God made us to be. If we become who God intended us to be, we embrace God, and feel love, for God is love.*** As we feel the love of God, we feel joy. In finding this joy, we are brought on our way back home to God.
* Romans 5:5 ** Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:9; Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8
*** 1 John 4:8,16
At times God calls us in ways we can hear with the ears of our bodies. At other points God speaks to us in ways which resonate deep in our souls.
Yesterday when I was walking up to the church for Mass, the church bells were ringing. I heard not only the reverberating volume of the sonorous bells vibrating against my eardrums. I also felt echoing in my soul how I had been previously called to prayer by resonating bells.
I was reminded of when I was traveling in Europe, right after I had finished serving in the Peace Corps in Morocco. At one point during those travels in Europe, I found a church by following the sound of the tolling of the church bells.
Yesterday as I approached the church, I thought too of when I lived at the hermitage in Big Sur. In that Benedictine monastic community, where I thought I was going to become a monk, the church bell sounds before each Mass and each recitation of the Divine Office, in which Psalms are sung and spoken. The monks, upon hearing the church bell, proceed to the church for Mass or the Divine Office. They do their best both to hear the call and to follow it.
We can be guided by what we hear. God directs us too through the Holy Spirit speaking to us deep within us.
God is calling out to us. As Jesus told us, anyone who has ears should listen.** When we listen, and submit to God's will, and obediently follow the calling God has ordained for us, we find true joy, for then we find our true selves, and become who God has always meant us to be. As we live out our vocations, we become who God made us to be. If we become who God intended us to be, we embrace God, and feel love, for God is love.*** As we feel the love of God, we feel joy. In finding this joy, we are brought on our way back home to God.
* Romans 5:5 ** Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:9; Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8
*** 1 John 4:8,16
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