Voice Verification

Learning to hear the sound of our own voice

10/31/2021

Mk 12:28b-34 One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Sooner or later we all have trouble with our hearing. For example, some of you… Could you hear what I mean? After some pressure from his family, an elderly man who was hard of hearing finally visited his doctor. After a lengthy exam the doctor identified the problem and prescribed a solution. The man took the prescription and the doctor told him to return in a week so he could check on his progress. A week later the man returned for his check-up. The doctor announced very pleased, “You hearing is perfect! Your family must be delighted.” The man replied: “Oh, I have not told them yet. I just sit around the house and listen to them talking. So far, I have changed my will three times!”

I am convinced, however, that the hardest people to hear is not someone else but ourselves. What do I mean? Well, I will never forget the advice Fr. Tom Elliot – while he was still Fr. Tom – gave someone who came to him for counseling many years ago. The person was very hysterical and going on and on about all their problems and how everyone else was to blame for causing them. Suddenly, Fr. Tom stopped them and said politely: “Can you hear yourself talking right now?”

The person became instantly self-aware and finally heard their own voice sounding very irrational and unrealistic. Have you ever noticed how your voice sounds so strange in a recording and not at all like you think it sounds? Well, the recording is your true voice and how you really sound, and you are hearing yourself perhaps for the very first time. In other words, when it comes to our own voice, we are all a little hard of hearing.

In the gospel today, Jesus does a little hearing check with one of the scribes. Jesus answers the scribe's question about which commandment is the greatest, and then our Lord, the divine audiologist, waits to see what the scribe heard. And the scribe is actually able to repeat what Jesus said because he heard and listened well. In other words, it was not enough for the scribe merely to hear Jesus’ answer and hear Jesus’ voice.

The scribe had to put the answer into his own words and utter his understanding with his own voice and his own vocal chords. Why? Well, the external commandment of love of God needed to be internalized and said with the scribe’s own voice. The mouth is the echo chamber of the heart. Thus Jesus said, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Why? Well, because the scribe had overcome the hardness of hearing his own voice. His voice verified that the Kingdom of God was beating in his own heart.

Let me give you three examples where we, too, may be suffering from a little hardness of hearing, especially when it comes to hearing our own voice. Several years ago I was giving a presentation on one of my books, and I became very excited and exuberant. (I know you find that hard to believe.) Afterward I asked a friend, who had known me since childhood, how the presentation went.

She answered very kindly, “To be honest, you sounded a little arrogant.” I wanted to answer: “If you were not being honest, how did I sound?” I gotta tell you, her criticism was not easy to hear. But do you know what was even harder to hear? It was the sound of my own voice, which I confess did indeed come across as arrogant. I was hard of hearing my own voice.

Here is a second example. When I prepare young couples for marriage, I ask them a series of questions about how serious they are for marriage. For instance, I ask: Do you want to be married for life? Do you intend to be faithful to your spouse? Will you accept children from God? And sometimes the couple only nods their head in agreement.

But I tell them that is not good enough. They have to answer the questions out loud, so that they can hear the sound of their own voice uttering their vows. I want their voice to be echo chamber of their hearts and reflect what they really feel. Why? Well, as the years go by and the tears rain down, it becomes harder to hear the sound of our own voice and when you originally said those vows. Married couples can become hard of hearing to their own voice.

Here is a third example. I am so proud of all of our teachers and catechists who are sharing the faith in our school and religious education programs. They are like the scribe in the gospel today, who hear Jesus’ voice and then they translate the faith with their own voice and share it with the next generation. I hope they can hear the sound of their own voice when they teach the Gospel. I have no doubt Jesus is saying to our school teachers and PRE catechists, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Like Fr. Tom Elliot said, “Can you hear yourself talking right now?”

My friends, Jesus listens to us speaking daily like that father who had his hearing healed even if we don’t think he hears us. But Jesus does not change his will and our inheritance based on what we blurt out, sometimes arrogantly. Rather, he helps us to hear our own voice with the help of his grace. Only if we can over overcome our hardness of hearing our own voices, will we also hear Jesus’ voice saying: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!