He will come openly, and he will not be silent (Ps. 50:33). It says, "He will not be silent," because he was silent while he was being judged. For with regard to the words of his that we need, when has he ever been silent? He was not silent through the Patriarchs; he was not silent through the Prophets; he was not silent through his own physical mouth. And if he were silent now, he would not be speaking through the Scriptures. The reader goes up to the lectern, and he is not silent. The preacher speaks, and if he speaks the truth, it is Christ who is speaking. If Christ were silent, I would not be saying these things. Nor was he silent through your own mouths: when you were singing, he was speaking. He is not silent. What we have to do is to hear him, and with the hearts ear. Its easy to hear him with our physical ears. We have to hear him with the ears that the Teacher said he was looking for: "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear" (Mt 13:9). When he said that, was there anyone in front of him who didnt have physical ears? They all had ears, and only a few had ears. Not all of them had ears to hear, that is, to obey (Augustine, Sermon 17:1; PL 38, 124).The Word of God is never silent, but it is not always heard (Augustine, Sermon. 51, 17; PL 38, 342). [Verbum Dei nunquam tacet: sed non semper auditur.]