Quitting my job as lead illustrator at California Custom Design to enter seminary was not easy. It shocked many people in my life—especially my college pals from San Diego State University. The path of religious disaffiliation had presented itself to me in alluring ways, but after hitting an existential skid in my early 20s, I took a different direction. More accurately, God took me in a different direction.
Perhaps for you, like it did for me, it started with a quiet calling. We listen carefully to the call, then we discern our listening with equal care and prayer. In one of those prayerful moments as a young man when I was pleading with God to intercede for my life and to help me discern a meaningful purpose, I heard an almost audible whisper, “John, the world has used you long enough. Now it’s my turn.” That whisper was the Holy Spirit. It is only through the eyes of faith that we can look at the broken Body of Christ and find our life’s deepest meaning. Like the earliest disciples, many of us were pulled out of other professions to answer this call. The reckoning and the sense of it all may have come later. Ultimately, when each of us acted on our discernment, the community of faith affirmed our response. You’re here because you listened to God, and in turn, someone listened to you.
Think about it. The process that you experienced when discerning your call to Catholic education contains the same critical elements of how we should listen to our young people, which includes prayer, reflection and the community of faith. When working with our children heart-to-heart, it is also important that we listen with respect and put our biases and agendas in abeyance. To be sure, much of what worked in getting through to us as kids isn’t the same for this generation of youngsters. The landscape has changed, and so have the rules of engagement. However, one truth remains: All people need to be understood and to be loved. Listening in this way is a sacred act, and it may be the most important ministerial skill that we possess in serving our students.
The bottom line is that without listening, we’ll lose them. According to the Pew Research Center (January 2024), around four in ten Americans have become more spiritual over time, while fewer have become more religious. The statistics are sobering. Some 41 percent of U.S. adults say they have grown more spiritual over the course of their lifetime, compared with 24 percent who say they have become more religious. In contrast, 13 percent of U.S. adults say they have become less spiritual over time, while 33 percent say they have become less religious. Catholics and mainline Protestants are more divided, with roughly similar shares in each group saying they have become more religious and less religious over time. There is a clear pattern by age: older Americans are more likely to say they have become more religious over time, while younger Americans are more likely to say they have become less religious. We know from earlier studies on religious disaffiliation that the median age of disaffiliation is 13 years old. Who was there to listen, to witness, to accompany and to affirm the journey before it veered off the narrow path?
The theme of “listening” is deeply embedded in the scripture and tradition of our Catholic faith, and it begins with the person of Jesus. Saint Pope John Paul II in the opening paragraphs of On Catechesis In Our Time (1979) stated, “The definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ.” Jesus often concluded his teachings with the phrase “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (e.g., Matthew 11:15). This underscores the idea that listening involves more than just passive hearing, but it requires spiritual receptivity and a willingness to understand and apply what is being heard. In his interactions with multiple people on the margins, Jesus demonstrated deep listening and empathy. He listened to people’s questions, concerns and struggles of faith. Consider his conversations with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) and his interaction with the blind beggar Bartimaeus (Mark 10). When all was said and done, Jesus exemplified perfect obedience and alignment with God’s will. This required an intimate connection with the God he called “Father” through prayer and listening, and its most poignant example may be his prayer of surrender in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26). If we believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, then we have the blueprint for our own life’s path in the ways of sacred listening—the Way of Jesus.
The Church recently embarked on a global listening session. The Synod on Synodality, which concludes in 2024, reminds us that we are all on a journey of listening together as people of faith. Pope Francis called this process “an exercise of mutual listening, conducted at all levels of the Church and involving the entire People of God” (September 18, 2021). In Catholic education, we know that how we treat our young people is every bit as important as what we teach them. In ecclesial terms, the Catechism expresses what Catholics believe and the catechesis expresses how we teach what we believe. In our teaching, are we engaged in sacred listening? Through sacred listening, we help our young people see themselves more clearly as beautifully created in the image of God.
Pope Francis has emphasized the importance of listening in various contexts, including in matters of faith, dialogue and social justice. The Pope has also expressed a desire for the Church to listen to the voices of young people, believing that young people have valuable insights and perspectives that can contribute to the growth and renewal of the Church. What does this mean for Catholic school educators?
In Catholic education, listening is integral to the holistic development of students. It is through active and sacred listening—encompassing spiritual, intellectual, moral and social dimensions—that students are nurtured to become compassionate, informed and responsible individuals who contribute positively to the world around them. As much as we lean in and listen to our young people, we help them to listen, too.
There are multiple examples to draw from. We teach students to listen and to engage in the Word of God as a source for understanding the moral and spiritual principles that guide their lives. Through our celebration of Mass, students are encouraged to actively participate in the communal act of worship, fostering a sense of reverence and attentiveness for Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist and in the People of God. Within our classrooms, Catholic education promotes a culture of respectful dialogue and active listening that supports understanding, empathy, the exchange of ideas and appreciation for the richness of cultural diversity and the complexities of global challenges. This aligns with our Catholic emphasis on the dignity of the individual and the importance of community. Through the lens of Catholic social teaching, students are encouraged to actively listen to the needs of others and to develop a sense of responsibility toward creating a just and compassionate world. By teaching young people to actively listen to their own gifts and talents, as well as the needs of the world, Catholic education helps students discern their vocation in life, whether it be in the priesthood, religious life, marriage or another vocation of service. In short, sacred listening reinforces the idea that listening is not only about words but also about compassion in action.
Yes, sacred listening may be the most important ministerial skill that we possess in serving our students. It is essential to our Catholic faith with its importance woven throughout our scripture and tradition. It is a theme of great emphasis in Pope Francis’ papacy, and it is hard-baked into our model of religious education. Closer to home, it’s also likely to be central to your personal story of how you listened and answered God’s call to become a Catholic school educator. On behalf of your students—past, present and future—thank you for listening.
To listen and to understand where your students stand in matters of faith, visit www.ncearise.org
John Galvanjohn@ncea.org