In his book Directions, author James Hamilton shares this insight about listening to God:

“Before refrigerators, people used icehouses to preserve their food. Icehouses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the icehouses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.

One man lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. His workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile.

A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the icehouse during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch. Amazed, the men asked him how he found it… “I closed the door,’ the boy replied, ‘lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking.’ ”

Often the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough, and quiet enough, to hear. Today’s Gospel tells us that we are able to listen to God when we are really humble and really repentant of our sins. – Submitted by Fr. Joseph Dovari