17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) 2026

German-speaking Catholic parish in Japan

Homily on 1 Kings 3:5, 7–12

1st Reading:      1 Kings 3:5, 7–12

2nd Reading:      Romans 8:28–30

Gospel:             Matthew 13:44–52

It is one of the quietest and yet most powerful scenes in the Bible: a young king stands before God. He knows that the task before him is greater than his strength. And God says to him: ‘Ask what I shall give you.’

Solomon could have asked for many things. He could have asked for security, for influence, for assertiveness. He does not. He says: ‘Give your servant a listening heart.’

This request is remarkable. It is not modest, but wise. It is not defensive, but forward-looking. Solomon knows: if I do not listen, I will lose my way. If I do not listen, I will become unjust. If I do not listen, I will become blind to what God says.

A listening heart is not a romantic idea. It is a fundamental spiritual attitude.

The ability not to react immediately, but to take in. Not to judge immediately, but to discern. Not to act immediately, but to examine what is sustainable.

In recent years, the universal Church has done something that sounds astonishingly simple and yet runs deep: it has practised listening anew.

At the World Synod, and also during the joint meetings of all the cardinals with the Pope, it became clear: synodality does not begin with speaking. It begins with listening. Not with devising concepts, but with perceiving what the Spirit of God is saying. Not with asserting positions, but with discerning together.

It was palpable: the Church worldwide is striving not to fall into activism.

It is striving not to change structures first, but to change its own attitude first. It is striving to hear the voice of God before making decisions. This is a movement that Solomon would have understood.

When one looks at the Church in Germany, one sees a different movement. 

It is understandable, and it is also necessary, for it has arisen from a deep crisis – but it is different.

Here (in Germany), the focus is often on questions that are loud and clear. Questions about power, about responsibility, about structures, about roles, about competences. Questions that stem from hurt, from a loss of trust, from the need to come to terms with abuse and to draw conclusions.

These questions are not wrong. They are not superfluous. They are part of a path that must be taken. But they create a different atmosphere to that experienced by many local churches worldwide. Whilst there is much discussion in Germany, in other regions there is much listening. Whilst here the question is how the Church can reorganise itself, there the question is where the Spirit of God is leading. Whilst here the focus is on structures, there the focus is on spiritual discernment.

This is not a judgement. It is an observation. An observation that can help us to hear Solomon’s plea anew.

Perhaps the listening heart that Solomon asks for is precisely what both movements need.

The universal Church needs it so as not to fall into arbitrariness. The German Church needs it so as not to get bogged down in a focus on structures. Both need it to recognise what is truly important. What sustains. What heals. What God says.

A listening heart is not an escape from responsibility. It is the prerequisite for exercising responsibility in a meaningful way at all. It prevents us from losing ourselves in the clamour of our own debates. It safeguards us from allowing speed to take precedence over truth. It protects us from structures becoming more important than the Spirit who is meant to breathe life into them.

Solomon asks for a listening heart before he makes a decision. Perhaps that is the attitude we need today – both personally and as a church: not to speak first, not to react first, not to restructure first, but to listen first. Not in order to do less, but to do what is right.

“Give your servant a listening heart.” 

Solomon’s plea is sober. It is the insight of a person who knows that direction does not come from volume. It comes from attentiveness.

The universal Church is trying to relearn this attentiveness. The Church in Germany is trying to become capable of action without losing itself. Both paths are different, both paths are necessary – and both paths require a listening heart.

For without a listening heart, every reform remains blind. Without a listening heart, every structure remains empty. Without a listening heart, every debate remains loud but ineffective.

A listening heart is not a spiritual extra. It is the beginning of clarity.