— FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —
“We All Must Listen With the Ear of the Heart”
“Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak” (James 1:19)
St. Clair Shores, MI (January 24, 2022) — In his 2022 Pontifical Message for World Communications Day in Vatican City on January 24th, 2022, Pope Francis encourages us to pay close attention while listening, which is a condition for genuine dialogue and human communication. “…it is not enough simply to listen, but that it is necessary to listen well…It is only by paying attention to whom we listen, to what we listen, and to how we listen that we can grow in the art of communicating. We are losing the ability to listen to those in front of us, both in the normal course of everyday relationships and when debating the most important issues of civil life,” said Pope Francis.
“God is not silent. He is constantly reaching out to each of us. Often His voice is quiet and only when we stop to listen can we hear him,” says Catholic talk show host and media expert, Teresa Tomeo. Tomeo is author of Listening For God: Discovering the Incredible Ways God Speaks to Us and Noise: How Our Media-Saturated Culture Dominates Lives & Dismantles Families.
“God also frequently breaks into our lives with ‘God-incidences,’ miraculous encounters, and surprising circumstances that can be life-changing. Listening with “the ear of the heart” as Pope Francis is calling us to do, is so important,” says Tomeo, who has more than 40 years of news media experience along with an expertise on media usage and impact. “To listen to God is a challenge for many of us with all the media messages bombarding us by the minute. Spending time in silence, turning off the media, or putting your phones down when having a conversation is important.”
Tomeo explains, “The average American spends on average 11 hours a day connected to some form of media. This is why it is so important that the Pope also gave a clear directive to the media, and specifically to journalists—reminding them the importance of listening carefully to a variety of voices,” she explains. The pope stressed, ‘without listening, there is no good journalism; journalists need to listen to many voices in order to ensure the “reliability and seriousness” of the information they transmit.’”
Tomeo continues, “The cancel culture is very real. Unfortunately, journalists providing a variety of voices is the exception in our cancel culture these days, and not the norm that it should be. It is disappointing and rare that I find journalists still following the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics that I learned when I was studying journalism in college. That’s why all those concerned with ongoing censorship, need to pass on this World Communications Day message as a reminder of the importance of listening.”
“We all long to know the will of God in our lives, to obtain answers to our prayers, and to receive tangible evidence of the personal care of our heavenly Father. We deeply desire to hear God’s voice. But we can only do that if we listen as Pope Francis says, ‘with the ear of the heart.’”
Teresa is available for interviews.
Contact Gail Coniglio, Teresa Tomeo Communications, LLC (954) 740-3261 or gail@teresatomeo.com.
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