Attentiveness, mindfulness, presence of mind- the capacity to listen well- these are all attributes considered essential when we hear the Word of God proclaimed.
But this is often a struggle for the faithful one even if a right intention is present.
St. Francis de Sales gives an example of one such struggler- and his response to the predicament.
The struggling believer: ” Good heavens! You said that to receive the holy word well so that it leads to our profit we must hear it with attention, in a spirit of devotion and reverence. But I have never heard it in this way! Truly I must try to do so from now on.But how shall I succeed? I am usually so distracted and weighed down by dryness and a certain interior stupor that I take no pleasure in anything. My mind is so distracted during a sermon that ordinarily I have great difficulty in remaining attentive to what the preacher is saying. I seem to have no taste for devotion and almost no desire to put into practice what I learn there.”
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES: ” When we are taught that we must hear God’s word with attention, reverence and devotion, we are not taught that we must have these feelings of devotion and of reverence in the lower part of our soul, which is the part where these difficulties usually reside. It is enough that in the higher part we hold ourselves in reverence and keep to the intention of profitting by it. Having done that, we ought not to trouble ourselves by imagining that we are not well disposed to receive this holy word. Since the preparation to hear the word was made in the will and in the higher part of our spirit, the Divine Goodness is satisfied, for He is content with little and pays no attention at all to what passes in the lower part of our spirit.”
Source: St Francis de Sales, Sermon March 13, 1622
Reflection:
What is my usual level of attentiveness to the Word of God proclaimed?
How can I encourage a greater interior spirit of attentiveness?