Yesterday,
June 16th, was Bloomsday, the date
when
Ireland
remembers a day in
Dublin
in the life of Leopold Bloom as told by James
Joyce in Ulysses. There, in the written word,
we can listen to a narrative that recounts so much of what he said, where he
went and whom he met. But it is not always easy reading, it demands something of
the reader, our close attention.
The
word ‘listen’ is an anagram of the word ‘silent’ and there
are indeed connections. We hear a lot of noise in the course of a day, often a
cacophony of sound is the backdrop to our waking hours, but hearing is not
listening.
Listening
demands that we pay attention, that we concentrate, that for a while we are
silent. ‘Silence is the space between words’ was a phrase I often
used with children in school when they were reading aloud. And it is important.
Among
the clutter of noise on the web my attention was recently caught by a piece in “The
Irish Catholic”. In it, a Catholic Bishop, Leo O’Reilly from the
Kilmore diocese is quoted.
Bishop
Leo O’Reilly has said he is “liaising” with other bishops with a view to
setting up a commission to discuss the possibility of ordaining married men to
the priesthood as well as appointing female deacons.
Bishop
O’Reilly is making the proposal as a result of a 10-month listening process in
his Kilmore diocese which led to a diocesan assembly and a new diocesan pastoral
plan to tackle challenges facing the Church, including a declining number of
priests.
Bishop
O’Reilly told The Irish Catholic he plans to ask for the idea of a new
commission to be put on the agenda for discussion at the next meeting of the
hierarchy at Maynooth and “take it from there”.
It
would seem that the results of listening can be informative and may sometimes,
surprisingly, have results.
Here
and there in the Church, it is beginning to happen, usually when those who are
always talking pause awhile and actually begin to listen. Too often the supposed
‘listener’ is really preparing a response to what he or she thinks is being
said. That is largely a waste of time. Two chunks of verbiage slide past each
other without so much as a scratch.
The
forthcoming Synod in October must listen to the Church and not come with already
prepared noise that will only hinder the process.
”For
last year's words belong to last year's language
and next year's words await
another voice…… to make an end is to make a beginning” wrote
Eliot in Little Gidding, one of the Four
Quartets
It
is a favourite word of politicians- “We will listen to the people” –and
then after election ignore what we say. This week, with the publication of the
encyclical Laudato Si we may well see two worlds collide, with
global warming and care of our planet no longer just a political-economic issue
but also recognised as a subject of significant moral consideration.
Jesus
concludes the Parable of the Sower in Mark’s Gospel with the words, "Anyone
with ears to hear should listen
and understand”.
Time
and again in Scripture, the people are admonished for their lack of listening.
“Oh that my people would listen to my voice” cried the Psalmist
(Ps 81).
We don’t do enough of it
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