Listening Heart
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6 April 1983
Paris, France

Mother Rogé, my dear Sisters and my dear Confreres,

The Emmaus incident, as recounted by St. Luke, could be described as one of the finest short stories in all literature. It is a story which begins in sadness and ends in joy. It is a story which begins in a mood of disillusionment and ends in one of hope. It is a story that describes how Christ gently put light where there was darkness and faith where there was unbelief. Above all, it is a story that speaks volumes about the humility, sensitivity and gentleness of Christ.

The incident opens in a mood of depression. The two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem, sad and disheartened. They are joined by the Risen Christ who, perhaps noticing their sadness, sympathetically asks them, "What matters are you discussing, as you walk along?" (Lk 24:17).

Often the best help we can offer a person who is depressed is to afford them an opportunity of talking. Jesus Christ does exactly that when He encounters the depression of the two disciples. So often depressed people seek only a listening ear, or rather, a listening heart. Jesus Christ offered to the two disciples a listening heart. By listening attentively and lovingly to them, he drained the depression out of them.

Many of you here have discovered in your work for the poor that, while their material needs are often great, their spiritual needs may be greater still. Many of you have discovered, too, that on many occasions, when the poor present a problem to you or seek your advice, you come eventually to realize that their real need is not your advice, but rather the sympathy of your listening heart. Often I feel that I have given advice to people when what they were really asking for was understanding and compassion. I have found words like "What you ought to do is..." come too easily to my lips when speaking to a poor person.

In the dialogue between Our Lord and the two disciples, did you notice the slight note of sarcasm used by the disciples? "You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these days." (Ibid., v. 18). Jesus ignored the note of sarcasm and simply asked, "What things?". It is always wise to ignore sarcasm and wiser never to employ it, for it is a very wounding weapon.

When Jesus had by His loving and attentive listening lifted the disciples out of their depression and thus given them joy, He went on to open the meaning of the Scriptures to them. The whole experience culminated in the Eucharist. "They recognized Him in the breaking of the bread." (Ibid., v. 35). But before that, did you notice the delicacy of the Risen Christ Who was unwilling to force His company on the two disciples. "He appeared to be going further but they constrained Him, saying: `Stay with us for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent'." (Ibid., vv. 28, 29). If Our Lord's ignoring of the sarcasm of the two disciples was an indication of His gentleness, then His unwillingness to force His company on the disciples was a manifestation, not only of respect for their persons, but of that humility of heart which He has asked us to learn from Him.

In our era we hear much about the need to respect individual persons in all that we do for them. That is not sufficient for a Daughter of Charity. In addition to respect for the person of the poor, the Daughter

of Charity must manifest also in her attitude the humility of Christ. In the teaching of our Founders the work, whatever it is which we do for the poor, should be three-dimensional--simple, humble, loving. When you come to think of it, the Christ of the Emmaus Road was just that: simple and humble and loving in all that He did for His two disciples. They not only responded joyfully, but even their hearts began to burn within them. (cf., Ibid., v. 32). The beginning of all our service for the poor lies in being simple, humble and loving persons through our contemplation of Christ in prayer and through our intimate contact with Him in the Eucharist. "And their eyes were opened...." (Ibid., v. 31). May He open our eyes to see more clearly and accept that truth as, like Him, we try to give new heart and new hope to the poor whom we meet on the road of life.

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