Teach me to listen

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, Holy Spirit, for your

voice - in busyness and in boredom, in

certainty and in doubt, in noise and in silence.

teach me, O God, to listen.

(John Veltri, S J)