God does truly speaks to each of us, you and me. His Word is always being spoken. And many people hear his Word, but do not realize it. To know if you have heard God speak to you, there is one very important step that must be taken; that is the step or "leap" of faith. This step of faith cannot be done alone in solitude for God proclaimed that "It is not good for the man to be alone" even though Man knew God (Genesis 2:18). God created us to be in relationship with one another in order to experience a sense of his divinity.
So for us to have faith in the Holy Trinity, we must have a personal faith that relates to a communal faith. In other words our individual faith depends upon the faith of the community to whom we belong. So faith requires us to be taken in by and accepting by our community.
There seems to be much focus these days on the necessity of being a village or rearing children in one. Who hasn't heard the common acclamation, "It takes a village." Yet I do not think we fully appreciate this reality of God's plan, especially in a country that professes in "individualism" despite being found as "We the People." Ironic isn't it.
So perhaps this village of ours has simply become disunited. A disunity that is of our own making because we have forgotten or neglected the source of our unity--not ourselves but God. We the people cannot find unity in some social contract, but only in the Covenant with God. Even our Founding Fathers understood this in declaring independence from the Royal Crown of England. Human rights must have a source beyond the human community. We can only be brothers and sisters to one another if we first recognize that we are adopted children of God the Father. In his Son by the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can live as one family of God, respecting and protecting inherent rights we received from our Creator.
Well the truth is there is only one global village, one family of God, one Church of all. The Catholic Church is that global village, that family formed by God. The Church is that one, holy, apostolic, and catholic village. And in this catholic family our faith is born, nurtures, and matures. Every week as the one family of God, we gather together to celebrate us being that one family. Even more importantly, we as Church gather in Christ, his Son, to worship, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father Almighty, Creator of all that is visible and invisible. We cannot proclaim this faith, let alone worship God, unless we are one like God--a communion of persons.
So if you seek to know if you hear God, there is a way. For you to validate if what you heard is truly from God, you need the Church. More specifically you must test what you hear with God's Word in Catholic worship, the Divine Liturgy. The Mass is to be your litmus test. This is not the doings of humanity, but solely in accordance with God's plan. He has revealed in Christ Jesus the Way in which we know and understand his Word--the Church, especially during the Mass.
