The Healing Journey

July 11, 2026

A prayer for the grace 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, Lord, to listen. Amen.
—Adapted by John Veltri, SJ

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