Just Teach Sheet Adult Week 3

��️ Adult Track – Just Teach Sheet

Week 3: Listening to God
August Theme: Prayer & Personal Relationship with God
Audience: Adult Faith Formation
Focus: God continues to speak through Scripture, the Sacred Tradition of the Church, the Magisterium, the liturgy, and the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit. Listening requires humility, silence, discernment, and obedience.

�� Weekly Goal

By the end of this week, you will:

Deepen your understanding of how God speaks and why He chooses certain means.

Learn the Catholic principles for discernment — how to distinguish God’s voice from other influences.

Recognise the link between listening to God and full participation in the sacramental life.

Be able to explain to others why the Catholic approach to hearing God is reliable, not based on subjective impressions alone.

�� What You’ll Need

This sheet

Bible (a Catholic edition with the full canon)

Catechism of the Catholic Church (or access to it online)

Journal or notebook

Quiet space free from interruptions

��️ Opening Prayer (Say daily)

Eternal Father, Through Your Son, the Word made flesh,
You have spoken to the world.
By the Holy Spirit, You continue to guide Your Church.
Speak to me now through Your Word, Through the voice of the Church,
And through the quiet movements of grace in my heart.
Grant me the humility to listen and the courage to obey.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

�� Day 1 – God’s Initiative

Teaching Script:
God always takes the first step in the relationship with man (CCC 2567). He called Abraham from idolatry, Moses from exile, Mary from Nazareth, Peter from his nets — and He calls us now.
Listening begins with the conviction that God wants to communicate with you personally.

�� 1 Samuel 3:10 – “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”

Reflection:
When we pray, are we really listening for an answer, or simply informing God of our thoughts? Listening involves expectant faith.

Apologetics Note:
Some Christians hold that God speaks only through Scripture and never in any other way. Catholics affirm that all public revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle, but God continues to guide and prompt His people within that revelation through the Spirit and the Church.

Action:
Pray Samuel’s words aloud. Spend two minutes in silence. Record in your journal any Scripture, idea, or resolution that arises.

�� Day 2 – Silence as Sacred Space

Teaching Script:
In our noisy age, silence is not simply the absence of sound — it is the presence of God. Sacred silence disposes the soul to receive the Word.

�� Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Reflection:
Jesus prayed in silence before critical decisions (Luke 6:12). The Mass itself contains intentional silences — before the readings, after the homily, after Communion — to listen to the Lord interiorly.

Apologetics Note:
Some object, “I don’t hear God speaking, so perhaps He isn’t there.” Catholic teaching replies that God’s primary aim is not to produce an audible experience but to sanctify our will through faith. Silence is often the proving ground of that faith.

Action:
Turn off all devices for five minutes. Sit quietly before a crucifix or holy image. Offer God your undivided attention.

 

 

�� Day 3 – Scripture and Tradition

Teaching Script:
The Catechism (CCC 97) teaches that the Gospel is handed on in two ways: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Both are expressions of God’s Word, and both are interpreted authentically by the Magisterium (CCC 85).

�� Matthew 17:5 – “This is my beloved Son… listen to Him!”

Reflection:
When we listen to the teaching of the Church, we are listening to Christ (Luke 10:16). Scripture is not a private possession to be interpreted apart from the Body of Christ.

Apologetics Note:
The idea of “Bible alone” arose only in the 16th century. For 1,500 years, Christians listened to the Word as proclaimed and explained by the Church in the liturgy. The Catholic method of hearing God’s voice remains the original apostolic way.

Action:
Read Luke 24:13–35 (The Road to Emmaus). Note how Jesus explains Scripture to the disciples and reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread — the model of Word and Sacrament together.

�� Day 4 – The Word in the Liturgy

Teaching Script:
The Liturgy of the Word is a privileged moment when Christ Himself speaks to His people. The Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium 7) teaches that “He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church.”

�� Hebrews 4:12 – “The word of God is living and active.”

Reflection:
To listen well at Mass requires preparation — reading the texts beforehand, arriving early to recollect yourself, and silencing distractions.

Apologetics Note:
Attending Mass is not optional for Catholics because it is the ordinary means Christ established for nourishing us with both Word and Eucharist (CCC 1324). Private Bible reading is good, but without the liturgy, we miss the fullness of God’s voice.

Action:
Before Sunday Mass, read the lectionary readings in advance. During Mass, listen for one line that seems addressed to you personally.

 

 

��️ Day 5 – Listening that Leads to Obedience

Teaching Script:
In Scripture, those who hear God are expected to obey — Noah builds, Abraham leaves, Mary consents, Peter casts the nets. Listening without action is self-deception (James 1:22).

�� John 10:27 – “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Reflection:
We must guard against selective listening — receiving only what confirms our preferences and ignoring what challenges us.

Apologetics Note:
Catholics reject the idea that we can separate Christ from His Church. To follow the voice of the Shepherd is to follow the teaching authority of His Church, even when it calls us to change.

Action:
Ask the Lord: “Where in my life am I resisting Your word?” Write one concrete step of obedience for this week.

�� Weekend Wrap-Up

Reflect in writing:

When did I most clearly hear God this week?

Was I open to hearing something I didn’t want to hear?

How will I respond in action?

✍️ Prayer Prompt / Journal Space

“Lord, in Your Church You are telling me…”

“I will obey by…”

��️ Apologetics Summary

God’s voice is mediated through Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium — not private revelation alone.

The Mass is the supreme context for hearing and responding to God’s Word.

Silence is essential for discernment in an age of distraction.

Listening without obedience is not authentic discipleship.

�� Optional CCC Reflection

CCC 97 – “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God.”

CCC 85 – “The task of authentically interpreting the Word of God… has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church.”

CCC 2653 – “Prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture so that a dialogue takes place between God and man.”