Thursday, December 15, 2016

Amoris Laetitia - Par. 137



137.  Take time, quality time.  This means being ready to listen patiently and attentively to everything the other person wants to say.  It requires the self-discipline of not speaking until the time is right.  Instead of offering an opinion or advice, we need to be sure that we have heard everything the other person has to say.  This means cultivating an interior silence that makes it possible to listen to the other person without mental or emotional distractions.  Do not be rushed, put aside all of your own needs and worries, and make space.  Often the other spouse does not need a solution to his or her problems, but simply to be heard, to feel that someone has acknowledged their pain, their disappointment, their fear, their anger, their hopes and their dreams.  How often we hear complaints like: "He does not listen to me."  "Even when you seem to, you are really doing something else."  "I talk to her and I feel like she can't wait for me to finish."  "When I speak to her, she tries to change the subject, or she give me curt responses to end the conversation".


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