January 15, 2023 - Pastor Message
04/25/2024THE YEAR OF MISSION
THE MISSION TO LISTEN
“As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.’ Many rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him’ … Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man replied to him, ‘Master, I want to see.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way” (Mark 10:46-49, 51-52).
We often think of Jesus’s ministry as one of action - preaching, healing, driving out demons, and doing other miracles. But almost as often as these others, we find Jesus listening. He listened to the cry of the sick and the poor. He listened to the questions of the religious leaders in the temple and to the challenges of the religious leaders in the synagogues and town squares. He listened to the proclamations of faith by the apostles and those who sought him out, like Bartimaeus, and to the protests of doubt by the people of his home town and those closest to him. Above all, though, he listened to his Father, going away by himself many times to pray, and hearing the Father’s will, he always obediently carried it out, all the way to the cross.
Jesus, the living Word of God, carried out his mission of proclaiming the kingdom of God by first listening. By listening to his Father and by listening to his people, he was able to bring the divine Word that he was into being through his human words and actions and so accomplish the work of salvation. The Incarnation, the divine entry into humanity so that humanity could become divine, was not a singular event that happened only once at the Annunciation or on Christmas day. It is the very work of salvation, begun in Christ and his earthly ministry, passed on to the apostles through the outpouring of Christ’s Spirit, and continued today in and through our work in his Church.
Just as Christ’s work began with listening, so must ours. We need to listen to God’s Word and open our hearts and minds to his Spirit. We need to listen to the people whom God’s Spirit is calling us to serve to learn who they really are and what they really need. And we need to bring the two together, God’s Word and the people, the divine and the human, to continue the saving work of the Incarnation today. And it all starts with listening.
If we don’t start our ministry by listening, then we’re just talking to ourselves. Listening is not easy, however. We will reflect together over the coming weeks on how to become more effective listeners. May our improved listening lead to more fruitful ministry, and may more fruitful ministry lead us all to share more fully in Christ’s divinity.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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