Hearing From The Lord

by Father Bob Bedard, CC


What, do you think, is the response of the average Catholic, when somebody asks the question, “So…what’s the Lord been saying to you lately?”

I’m afraid the most common reaction is a puzzled look. As a body of believers we’re not familiar with the notion that God speaks. But it’s not just a notion. It’s a reality, a truth.

When I received the grace of being baptized with the Holy Spirit, the most surprising revelation, to me, was the news that God wanted to run the Church. When that truth broke in on me, I was amazed. I wasn’t ready for it. What were they teaching us in the seminary if not how to run the Church? Who knows? But I knew now quickly that the Lord Himself wanted to be in charge and call the shots. We were to seek His word, His word of wisdom. He would convey it to us and then help us to carry it out.

The Lord’s desire to run things extends to the lives of individual people and families. Does this mean He wants to run everything? Actually, yes. He wants us to be little more than puppets? Not at all. Was Jesus just an automaton? No! But He knew that the Father, who alone can see the future, has a specific will in every important situation. He Himself chose His Father’s will in all things. In the Garden of Olives, He said: “Not my will, O Father, but your will be done”. He likewise said: “My food is to do the will of my Father”. And again, ( Jn 5:19), Jesus says: “The Son does only what He sees the Father doing.” The Father simply wants us to choose freely to do His will in all significant things. He won’t force us to do it. He will merely encourage us in that direction. As we choose His will, we are blessed and, likely, so are many others. The smartest decision we can make, is always, to do the Father’s will in all things. This will, of course, involve each of us in consulting Him frequently.

Yet people will ask: “Does He want to dictate every little thing in our lives?” No, not really. That would be carrying it much too far. He’s given us common sense to take care of such things. But in every choice we could call significant, He has a specific will, a will that He wants us to undertake and can convey to us.

Consulting the Lord in order to catch His word in particular situations is one of the most basic of all the instructions the Lord has left with us. To the degree that we are faithful to the calls He has placed before us, to that degree can we expect Him to bless what we’re doing.

One of the clearest memories I have in this regard dates back about 13-14 years when we were approached by the board of Governors of the television program, “Food for Life”. They wanted us to take on the weekly telecast. The founder, the late Father Bob MacDougall, felt the Lord was taking him out of the picture there and his discernment, he said, pointed specifically to the Companions of the Cross.

In those days, our council was not elected as it is now, but comprised all of the community’s priests. We met every two weeks. When I presented the question first, I was very leery of our getting involved, was inclined to say “no”, but, at the same time, had a lingering sense in the back of my mind that God might just, in fact, want us there. I went around the circle and asked for a preliminary feeling from the men. All were negative. I urged further prayer. “We’ll take it up again in two weeks,” I said.

The following meeting, although every man was still negative, there seemed much more openness to the idea. I asked for two more weeks of discernment. We prayed some more. Two weeks later, all were positive. We took over “Food for Life” and continue with it to this day. It was quite a remarkable experience.

Seeking the Lord’s word is a standard procedure in the Scriptures. And, in our day, we believe the Lord still wants to lead His people that way. What is told again and again in the Old Testament is continued in the same way in the New Testament. Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch, because something was happening there that the Church had not yet experienced – the conversion of both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) to Christ in equal large numbers. The leaders in Jerusalem (Peter, James, Andrew etc.) chose Barnabas to go north to check it out. As the latter met and prayed with Saul and the church in Antioch, the word of the Lord began to manifest itself through prophetic utterance. The most startling example is the word of God coming to the believers “while they were celebrating the Liturgy of the Lord” (A13).

There are, it’s to be expected, some conditions we have to fulfill in order to catch the Lord’s word for our lives.

First of all, we have to believe it. We have to cast away all the skeptical words that are thrown at us by the world. We’ve all heard them: “Are you crazy? Imagine!. God talks to us! Ridiculous!”

We should as well be in a state of repentance, better known as the state of grace. If there is something seriously out of order in my life, the Lord simply can’t get through to me. As well, we have to want the Lord’s word. It’s amazing how many people are afraid of what God might say. And, obviously, we have to ask. Too many people hold themselves in such low esteem that they feel unworthy of God’s intervention in their lives. Thus: “Oh, God would never speak to me. You’d have to be holy for Him to do that”. That’s not correct; but that’s where most people are at.

The most important condition for hearing from the Lord is what we could call abandonment to His will. This, in fact, is the key. Without it, there is little likelihood we’ll hear from Him at all. I have to tell the Lord I’ll do what He wants no matter what it is before I even know it. This is what stops a lot of people. There’s a fear many have of God, a lack of trust, actually.

The classis example that comes to mind here is the young chap, 20 or so, who had come to a gathering of young adults early in my years at St. Mary’s. A very likeable young guy, a good athlete, not noted for a lot of church attendance.

The young leader of the group was getting right down to business with the attendees, challenging them to turn their whole lives over to Christ. Anyone doing so would quickly receive hands-on prayer.

The Lord tends to honour such a response often in a very concrete manner and without a lot of delay. The night in question saw the 20 year old up in my office in a hurry. The Lord had touched him so powerfully that he was shaking. The dialogue between him and me follows:

He – “This is amazing, Father, I didn’t know God was so close and real. What do
I do to grow in my relationship with Him?” He was just bubbling over
and ready to charge. I thought he was going to tear the place down brick
by brick.

I – “Calm down. That’s the first thing to do. Just calm down. The second thing
is to tell the Lord you’ll do absolutely anything He wants you to do.”

He – “Oh yeah! I’ll do anything for Him. All He’s got to do is name it.” Then he
stopped short. “But…but what if He wants me to be a priest?”

I – “So what? I’m a priest. Is there something the matter with that?”

He – “But I don’t want to be a priest. I want to get married and have my own
family.

The crux of the situation is precisely that. God will only ask us to do something, we can do, something that’s best for us. The fact that I want deeply to do something else is a good sign that’s what He wants. There’s nothing complicated about it. It’s not a command from him. It’s a call.

If all of us would only follow the Lord’s calls upon our lives, what a different place this world would be. How different the Church would be! How different my family, my parish, my own life would be!

It’s very simple. Just follow the Lord. Do what He asks. Everything falls into place after that.