��️ In-Depth Track – Just Teach Sheet
Week 3: Listening to God
August Theme: Prayer & Personal Relationship with God
Audience: Advanced Catholic Formation / Theology Students / Catechist Trainers
Focus: God speaks definitively in Christ, continues to speak in His Church, and calls every believer into a relationship of listening obedience. Authentic listening integrates Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, Magisterial teaching, and the lived life of prayer.
�� Weekly Goal
By the end of this week, you will:
Understand the Catholic theology of divine revelation and its ongoing application in prayer.
Be able to articulate the difference between public revelation and private revelation, and why the former is normative.
Recognise how the Fathers and the Magisterium affirm the necessity of the Church for rightly hearing God’s voice.
Practise advanced discernment methods grounded in Catholic spirituality.
�� What You’ll Need
Catholic Bible (with Deuterocanonical books)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Notebook/journal for theological reflection
Access to Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation)
Quiet space for contemplative prayer
��️ Opening Prayer (Use daily)
O Lord, You spoke in many and various ways to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days You have spoken to us by Your Son (cf. Heb 1:1–2).
Grant that, filled with the Holy Spirit,
I may hear Your voice in Scripture, in the living Tradition of the Church,
and in the depths of prayer.
Form me in obedience to Your Word, that I may proclaim it in truth.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
�� Day 1 – Revelation: God Speaks First
Teaching Script:
The Catechism (CCC 50–53) teaches that God freely reveals Himself to invite man into communion with Him. This is His initiative, not ours. Listening to God presumes that God is the first mover in the relationship.
�� 1 Samuel 3:10 – “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”
Patristic Insight:
St. Augustine: “When you pray, you speak to God; when you read the Scriptures, God speaks to you.” (Enarrationes in Psalmos, 85.7)
Apologetics Note:
Against deism (belief in a distant, silent God), Catholicism affirms that God speaks definitively in Christ (Heb 1:1–2) and continues to speak through the Spirit in the Church (John 16:13).
Action:
Read Dei Verbum §2–4. Note how the Council links God’s self-disclosure to His desire for our salvation.
�� Day 2 – Public vs. Private Revelation
Teaching Script:
Public Revelation — the deposit of faith — ended with the death of the last Apostle (CCC 66–67). Private revelations (e.g., Fatima, Lourdes) may help us live the Gospel more fully but add nothing to it.
�� Jude 1:3 – “The faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
Reflection:
Public revelation is binding on all; private revelation, even if approved, is never obligatory. This safeguards Catholics from subjective spiritualism.
Apologetics Note:
Without this distinction, faith becomes vulnerable to every claimed “word from God.” The Church ensures that what we hear aligns with “the faith once delivered.”
Action:
Identify one teaching you have received directly from Scripture/Tradition and consider how you have lived it out.
�� Day 3 – The Threefold Voice of God
Teaching Script:
The Catholic hears God’s voice through:
Sacred Scripture – inspired and inerrant in matters of salvation (CCC 107)
Sacred Tradition – the living transmission of the Gospel in the Church (CCC 78)
Magisterium – the authentic interpreter (CCC 85)
�� Matthew 17:5 – “This is my beloved Son… listen to Him.”
Patristic Insight:
St. Irenaeus (c. 180 AD): “Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace.” (Against Heresies, 3.24.1)
Apologetics Note:
The “Bible alone” claim ignores the historical reality that Scripture came from the Church. The canon itself was discerned within Tradition under the Magisterium.
Action:
Read Luke 24:13–35. Note how Scripture is opened and then fulfilled in the Eucharist — the pattern of Catholic worship.
�� Day 4 – Listening in the Liturgy
Teaching Script:
The liturgy is the privileged place for hearing God’s Word (CCC 1154). Christ is present in His Word proclaimed (SC 7). This is not mere reading, but a sacramental encounter.
�� Hebrews 4:12 – “The word of God is living and active.”
Theological Insight:
Lex orandi, lex credendi — the law of prayer is the law of belief. How the Church prays reveals what she believes; listening to the liturgy forms our doctrine.
Apologetics Note:
Skipping Mass is not a neutral act; it’s refusing the primary setting Christ Himself established for speaking to His people.
Action:
Prepare for Sunday Mass by meditating on the readings in advance. Note one line to carry with you into the week.
��️ Day 5 – Discernment and Obedience
Teaching Script:
Hearing God without obeying is spiritual deafness. Authentic listening is always oriented to action in charity.
�� John 10:27 – “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
St. Teresa of Avila:
“Prayer is not to think much, but to love much; and so to do what best stirs you to love.” (Interior Castle, 4.1.7)
Apologetics Note:
True discernment always submits to the Church’s judgment (CCC 2039). If a “message from God” contradicts Catholic teaching, it is not from God.
Action:
Identify one area where the Church’s teaching challenges you. Ask God for the grace to obey joyfully.
�� Weekend Wrap-Up
Reflect:
Did I experience God’s voice more clearly through Scripture, Tradition, or the liturgy this week?
How did obedience deepen my prayer life?
Am I prepared to reject voices — even within my own heart — that contradict the Church?
✍️ Journal Prompts
“My act of obedience will be…”
��️ Apologetics Summary
Revelation is God’s initiative, not human discovery.
Public revelation is normative; private revelation may be helpful but never binding.
God speaks through Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium — together, never apart.
The liturgy is the privileged place of hearing God’s Word.
True listening issues in obedience, safeguarded by the Church.
�� Optional CCC & Magisterial References
CCC 50–53 – God’s self-revelation and plan of salvation
CCC 66–67 – Public and private revelation
CCC 78, 85, 97 – Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium
CCC 1154 – Liturgy as the place of the Word
Dei Verbum §§2–10 – Nature and transmission of revelation
Sacrosanctum Concilium §7 – Christ present in His Word proclaimed
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 