Speak, Lord, Your Servant is Listening.

This past Sunday at Mass, the first reading was about young Samuel learning to hear the voice of God. Eli gives him these words to say in response to God's call, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." Guess what? These words are not for Samuel alone.

During the homily, Father told us to reread the scriptures of the day and pick one sentence to contemplate for the week. I knew this would be my line.

Try making them your words for a week and see what happens. When you wake up, after thanking God for His gift of another day, say these words to Him. Then watch throughout the day and see if you can discern His voice. I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with the number of things on my to-do list. When I get that overwhelmed feeling I tell the Lord, "You tell me what on this list (or not on this list) that You want done today."

God will show you exactly what you should be accomplishing. Maybe at the end of the day not one thing on your list is crossed off, but you've accomplished something much more important and the overwhelmed feeling is gone. Sure the list will be there the next day but somehow it's not so daunting anymore.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, God knows what we need. Don't be afraid to be a servant who listens.