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An Advent Journey for the Discerning Heart:
Prepare your heart for Christ through Scripture, the saints, and the gentle practice of daily listening.

Week One: Awakening the Listening Heart

DAY 1 – Wakefulness

“Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” 
Romans 13.11 RSV

Advent opens with the quiet invitation to wake up spiritually. This is the first movement of a listening and discerning heart. Before the soul can notice God’s presence or receive His guidance, it must become aware, attentive, and ready to hear.

Spiritual sleep is subtle. It appears in distraction, noise, divided attention, discouragement, or the slow drift of the interior life. The mind fills with tasks. The heart loses sensitivity. Without choosing to fall asleep, the soul grows dull and slow to notice the gentle movements of grace.

Wakefulness is not anxious vigilance. It is the calm attentiveness that love creates. When the heart loves, it desires to notice even the smallest approach of the Beloved. St. Paul urges Christians to cast off whatever clouds the inner vision so they can stand ready for the Lord’s coming.

To begin Advent is to choose wakefulness. It is the decision to open the ear of the heart and say, “Lord, I am here. I desire to listen.”

Journey with the Saints –

St. Benedict

“Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”
Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue 1

For St. Benedict, listening is an act of spiritual wakefulness. It is not passive or casual. It requires humility, interior quiet, receptivity, and a readiness to obey God’s movements. Benedict teaches that God speaks not only in moments of prayer, but in the simple, hidden details of ordinary life. Wakefulness helps the heart recognize these small invitations of grace.

Benedict also reminds his monks that listening comes before action. God initiates. God invites. God leads. The discerning heart responds by listening first. Wakefulness is the doorway to discernment because it keeps the soul attentive to the Lord who is always near.

The life of prayer begins when the heart says, “I am ready to listen You.”

Reflection for the Listening Heart

Today is about noticing. Noticing is the first gesture of true listening. Hearing happens automatically and without effort. It simply receives sound. Listening, however, is intentional. Listening chooses to attend. Listening turns toward the One who is speaking. Listening makes space for grace to enter.

We often hear without truly listening. We hear Scripture. We hear prayer. We hear the voice of conscience. Yet the heart may remain elsewhere. Listening requires presence. It asks the heart to stay awake to God’s quiet movements and to receive even the smallest whisper of His love.

Ask yourself: Where am I merely hearing God today, and where am I actually listening. What is Christ quietly placing before me that needs my attention.

A Simple Practice for Today

Choose one verse from today’s Scripture, even a single line, and sit with it for one quiet minute. Say, “Speak, Lord, I am listening.” Later in the day, pause again by stepping outside or standing at a window. Take a slow breath and say, “Lord, I am present to You.” Let both moments become intentional acts of wakefulness.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, awaken my heart. Clear the fog of distraction and stir the desire within me to listen to Your voice. Teach me to attend with the ear of my heart so I may follow You with love and trust. Come into the quiet places of my soul and make me ready for Your presence. Amen.