The Heart of Mission: Listening Before Acting
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
1 Samuel 15:22-23
But Samuel said: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to the LORD’s command? Obedience is better than sacrifice, to listen, better than the fat of rams. For a sin of divination is rebellion, and arrogance, the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, the LORD in turn has rejected you as king.”
Grace Prayed For
The grace of a quiet, attentive heart that prefers to listen to God’s specific word and obey His gentle nudges, rather than creating my own grand and impressive sacrifices for Him.
Reflection
King Saul thought he was doing a good thing. He saved the best animals to sacrifice to God. It was a big, public, religious gesture. But in doing so, he directly disobeyed a command from God. He substituted his own good idea for God’s clear word.
Samuel’s response is one of the most piercing in all of Scripture: “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” God isn’t impressed by our grand plans, our elaborate strategies for evangelization, or the “fat of rams” we offer, if our hearts are not first intimately attuned to His. Intimacy bears the fruit of obedience. This obedience isn’t a grudging submission; it is the joyful, attentive “listening” of a heart in love. It is the posture that says, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
How often do I behave like Saul? I pray for the grace to “share and receive,” but then I charge into my encounters with my own agenda. I plan what I’m going to say (my sacrifice) instead of first listening (my obedience) to the person in front of me and to the Holy Spirit’s quiet nudges. I focus on the mission, but I forget the intimacy that fuels it.
This passage calls us back to the source. The mission is not our project; it is God’s. Our role is to listen so deeply to the Trinitarian God—to the Father’s will, the Son’s example, and the Spirit’s guidance—that our actions become a natural, obedient response to His love. When we “reject the word of the LORD,” even for what seems like a good religious reason, we are acting from “arrogance” (our plan) rather than intimacy (His plan).
Our mission to “share and receive” begins not in the encounter itself, but in the silence of our hearts, where we first listen to and obey the God who loves us. Only then can we truly share His love and truly receive the other as a beloved child of God.
Daily Evangelization and Baptismal Mission
Fulfilling Your Mission
The most powerful evangelization is a life transformed by Jesus’s love. It’s not about programs; it’s about partnership.
- Share Your Story of His Love: Evangelization is simply sharing what His love has done for you. When someone asks how you’re doing, be honest. “Life is hard, but I’ve truly felt Jesus’s peace carrying me,” or “I’m so grateful today; Jesus has shown me His love through a friend.” This makes His love personal and real, not abstract.
- Obey the Small Nudge: Your mission is often in the small, obedient act. It’s the nudge to call a friend who’s on your mind, to let someone go ahead of you in line, or to genuinely ask the cashier how their day is going… and then listen to the answer. This is “listening better than the fat of rams.”
- Be a “Receiver”: Your prayer is to “share and receive.” Receiving someone—listening to them without judgment, without planning your response, just offering them a safe space—is a profound act of Christ-like love. You are being Jesus for them, showing them His love by demonstrating that they are worth being heard. This fulfills your mission to partner with Him in restoring their dignity, a part of His creation.
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post