In the Catholic Church, we have readings from the Bible that are assigned each day for reading, reflection, and sharing. When you take all those assigned readings together across the span of a year, the whole thing is called the Liturgical Year.

Today’s readings include a reading from 1 Kings 19:9a and 11-13a, and a hidden piece of invaluable advice for someone who wants to know where to look for God and have a better connection. Here’s the reading:

At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter.
Then the LORD said to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.

This little reading teaches an incredibly important lesson about where to look for God. So often we think that since God is so big, we can only look for God in big things: strong and heavy winds, mountains being torn apart, rocks being crushed, earthquakes, and fire. We can think of these literally, or also think about them as metaphors for the times when big things are happening in our lives, especially the ominous and terrifying things.

The reading teaches us not to look for God in big things, but rather to look for God in the tiny and subtle, like a “tiny whispering sound.” In order to do so, we need to look past the big things that are happening, and find a way for ourselves to hear that tiny whispering sound.

If it’s a tiny whispering sound, we may need to withdraw from clamor and din of life to a quiet spot in order to hear it. In the Gospel of Matthew 6:6, Jesus instructs his disciples to do exactly that:

When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Jesus’ instruction is to withdraw and keep silence rather than trying to fill the minds and our space with words whether spoken out loud or in our thoughts. He reassures us that words aren’t needed because God already knows our situation.

For Today

Sometime today, take just three or five minutes to find a quiet place and listen for the “tiny whispering sound” of God. The goal is not to hear it (although it is wonderful if you do), but rather to just start making time, space, and silence in order to listen for it. It can take time to get things settled down enough in order to hear it, so always do your listening with a big dose of patience. You may not hear it, but trust that the tiny whispering sound is there — God is there — and it’s just a process to get to being quiet and still enough to connect. If your parish has a space for Eucharistic Adoration, that is an ideal setting to engage in this kind of listening.

Please share these words with someone who needs them today

Tom Delaney, O.F.S.

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This article is an original work of the author and was not composed by or with artificial intelligence (AI). The author is solely responsible for the contents of this article and the opinions and perspectives expressed in the article are solely those of the author. © 2026 Thomas Delaney. All rights reserved.

photo: Georgia Lyon, 2016