Listen

“But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” Luke 1:20

Was Zechariah being punished that he was made mute for nine months? When angel Gabriel told Zechariah that his barren wife would bear a son who will be named John, he did not believe it because as he said, both of them were very old already. This morning I attended the dawn mass of Bishop Ambo, and he talked of the gift of silence, that we have a difficulty hearing God when all around us is noisy. He recounted that in his place in Kalookan, it is usually so noisy. But during the lockdown, all the sounds from the factories and transportation was stilled, and he could hear the birds in his kawayan trees in the early mornings. 

Bishop Ambo quoted the story of Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 19. The prophet went up to the mountain because, “the LORD is about to pass by.” A great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire came a still, small voice. When  Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Sometimes God intervenes in our life so we can listen to him and hear him. Last year I was in the hospital from December 5 to 23. God stopped all my activity, he stripped me of my work, my  busyness with wrapping gifts, attending Christmas parties, helping with the annual gift giving for inmates of QC jail, all the little and big things that preoccupied me. After my surgery, I was in the ICU for heart patients and did not even have my husband beside me. I did not have my cellphone. I was left mostly on my own with all my tubes, and monitors. But God was there. I had the time to listen and God did speak. 

This year God stopped the world. He intervened. People mostly stayed home except for the doctors and caregivers who were busier than ever. Looking back on these months, did we take advantage of the space and time God gave us to listen, to ponder, to wait? I think many relished the many resources made available to hear God. Bishop Ambo said that he learned there were Filipinos in Africa “attending mass” in Kalookan! We too can hear mass, attend retreats, listen to talks from speakers all around the world. But most importantly, we need to make a space and time to be quiet, to be silent, and say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”