Teach Me to Listen – John Veltri, SJ

Teach me to listen, O God,

to those nearest me,

my family, my friends, my co-workers.

Help me to be aware that

no matter what words I hear,

the message is,

“Accept the person I am. Listen to me.”
Teach me to listen, my caring God,

to those far from me —

the whisper of the hopeless,

the plea of the forgotten,

the cry of the anguished.
Teach me to listen, O God my Mother,

to myself.

Help me to be less afraid

to trust the voice inside —

in the deepest part of me.
Teach me to listen, O Holy Spirit,

for your voice —

in busyness and in boredom,

in certainty and in doubt,

in noise and in silence.
Teach me, Lord, to listen. Amen.
Adapted by John Veltri, SJ in “Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits”
http://orientations.jesuits.ca/johnv.html