Stop whatever you are doing; close your eyes and count to ten, and listen to the sounds around you! What do you hear?

In any given day, we hear sounds that alert us like the alarm set on our phone; sounds that enliven us when we hear our spouse or child say, “Good morning” or “I love you”; and sounds that can be distressing such as sirens or cars honking or people yelling in anger.

Perhaps we hear the sound of the Lord speaking to us in the silence of our heart. Jesus says in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.”

The ability to hear is a blessing we can sometimes take for granted. The challenge might be to really listen to what we hear. Living in a time in history where we have access to cell phones, computers, TV, car radios and other sound devices, we can literally be hearing something 24 hours a day. Some people claim that they cannot sleep without having a television on or music playing.

Questions about sounds: What are the sounds that we allow to enter into our ears and our souls? Is it important to discern what we want to hear through music lyrics and/or shows and movies? What are the sounds we miss most (like the laughter of our children or grandchildren when they are not around or the voice of a loved one who has passed)? Are we aware of and present to the sounds in our environment at any given moment?

Do we take time to listen to the “sounds of silence”? Do we listen to the sounds and the essence of what family members or those we serve through our work are saying and meaning?

When I don’t walk and pray the rosary with my husband Mauri in the mornings, I listen to and pray the rosary on the car radio on my way to work. Two years ago I prayed the rosary in Portuguese, last year in Italian and this year in Latin in order to be more attentive to the words of honor and praise to our Blessed Mother: Our Lady of Guadalupe/ Nuestra Señora de San Juan del Valle.

On my car ride back home, I enjoy listening to Father Mike Schmitz from Ascension Press following “The Catechism in a Year” and for the second year now his “Bible in a Year'” As enjoyable and fruitful that is for me, I have to remind myself sometimes just to turn off the radio and listen to the silence and/ or open the car windows and listen to the birds.

Because our Pastoral Center in San Juan is located on the grounds of the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, I walk to the Basilica several times a week. I enjoy listening to the rustling of the wind through the leaves of the trees in the beautifully cared for grounds. I likewise enjoy listening to the sounds of people from all walks of life that visit this magnificent Basilica every day of every year as they talk to those who accompany them or whisper prayers of intercession to our Blessed Mother.

Recently, as I prayed before the image of our Virgencita de San Juan, I was keenly aware of the sounds of the flickering wicks of the candles. I had never paid attention to the sound of the candles! I am challenged to practice listening and being aware of the audible and inaudible sounds of God relating to me. I am most challenged when I am before the Blessed Sacrament and find it difficult to be still and listen to God as we hear in Psalm 46:10, “Be Still and Know that I am God.”

Listening with our ears and with our heart can be one of the most challenging things in daily life. To truly “listen” to our family members and those we are called to serve with our ears, our hearts, and our minds open to their pain and suffering or to their joy and jubilation is a goal worth reaching for.

In Jesus’ teaching, loving, suffering, dying and resurrection, He taught us “self-emptying love” — a love that literally gives all for the other. May we be “discipled” by Jesus to be open to the sounds of life and love around us by practicing self-emptying love.