The message of Pope Francis for the 56th World Day of Social Communications last May 2022 is worth reflecting on, as he spoke of listening with the ear of the heart. The word “listen,” according to the pope, “is decisive in the grammar of communication and a condition for genuine dialogue.”
Pope Francis spoke of listening as a dimension of love. “It is the action that allows God to reveal himself as the One who, by speaking, creates man and woman in his image, and by listening, recognizes them as his partners in dialogue. God loves humanity: that is why he addresses his word to them, and why he ‘inclines his ear’ to listen to them. On the contrary, human beings tend to flee the relationship, to turn their back and ‘close their ears’ so they do not have to listen. The refusal to listen often ends up turning into aggression towards the other, as it happened to those listening to the deacon Stephen who, covering their ears, all turned on him at once.” (cf. Acts 7:57)
