Our world is inundated with noises. Although noises are important not all noises are, in fact, appreciated. Certain noises make us feel fraught.
As every word we utter or write carries its spirit, even noises have their spirit attached to them. Albeit such noises bear a positive spirit, yet there will be a time when one simply has to stop himself or herself from listening to them. And, in all humility, s/he retires to enjoy a much pleasant noise. In other words, to enjoy what the undying lyrics by Tom Wilson of the famous single, The Sound of Silence, powerfully say.
When we are in God’s presence, as Simon and Garfunkel say in their song Wednesday Morning, 3am, darkness is not just saluted but becomes our old friend. And that vision, which softly creeps into our hearts and minds, leaving its seeds while we sleep or are awake, give us a vision that is planted in our brains. It is a vision which remains because it is enveloped in the sound of silence.
That sound of silence, which accompanies us in our restless dreams, or when we sometimes think that we walk alone even though we were enticed by the security of our mobile phones. Finally finding out that we thought we had seen, heard and talked, when, to our dismay, we discovered that it was simply a one-way communication with our frustrated self. However, the horizon of meaning for those who really believe is widened. Not merely because of a conceptual nuance or because they have attained some sort of control over themselves (hopefully not of others), but, and above all, because they experience their being absorbed by God, our Lord, Creator and Saviour.
The beautiful biblical verse in the Book of Wisdom says: “For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, thy all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior” (Wis. 18:14-15). Yes, God’s Word leaps from heaven, from the royal throne, and comes into our doomed existence precisely in that gentle silence!
Oh, that gentle silence which is the sole guarantor of listening to God’s silent and most heard voice. No wonder St Faustina wrote the following in her Diary: “In order to hear the voice of God, one has to have silence in one's soul and to keep silence; not a gloomy silence, but an interior silence; that is to say, recollection in God. One can speak a great deal without breaking silence and, on the contrary, one can speak little and be constantly breaking silence. Oh, what irreparable damage is done by the breach of silence! We cause a lot of harm to our neighbour, but even more to our own selves” (Diary 118).
Another detail has now come been revealed! Not the gloomy belligerent silence. The silence of an ongoing and never-ending conflict that silent wars, which had raged so long ago, must have put in one’s interiority. But the silence to listen “the Spirit of God who is speaking through [you, him, her, us and they]” (Diary 118). As St Faustina taught us, this Spirit is listened to when one speaks a great deal and, tragically, one can literally ignore this Spirit when s/he is speaking very little!
Silence kindles the fires of love. This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us regarding contemplative silence:
“Contemplative prayer is silence, the ‘symbol of the world to come’ or ‘silent love.’ Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the ‘outer’ man, the Father speaks to us His incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus” (no.2717).
Silent love needs no words. As Saint Faustina told Jesus: “In silence I tell you everything, Lord, because the language of love is without words” (Diary, 1489).
Why not spend some 15 minutes every day with Jesus, as present in the Eucharist? Listening to Him is the best life achievement you can ever make.
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap