Dear Friends in Christ,
Saint Teresa of Calcutta said of silence, “In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.” The noise in our life does not allow for serene prayer before the Lord. I think that this is why silence in the chapel is so essential as we adore the Lord in His Real Presence. I so wish that we could be quiet once we enter our Church before Holy Mass. We talk to everyone except He Who reigns in silence in our midst. Silence in church, silence in our cars, silence in our homes and silence in our souls are so conducive to deep mediation and prayer. Consider quieting some of the unnecessary clatter and the benefits will be powerful. Robert Cardinal Sarah with Nicolas Diat wrote in the book The Power of Silence, “I often isolated myself in a desert place, bathing in solitude and silence…I heard the birds chirping. But I had created for myself an interior desert, without water or food. There was no human presence. I lived in fasting and prayer, nourished only the Eucharist and the Word of God.” He says that we must withdraw into our spiritual desert “to combat the dictatorship of a world filled with idols that gorge themselves on technology and material goods, a world dominated and manipulated by the media, a world that flees God by taking refuge in noise.” I know that we are not all Carthusian monks, but to spend some time in silent prayer every day allows Him to speak to our hearts at His pleasure.
God bless you,
Father Szolack