Spirituality for Beginners

Fr. Bede's almost-daily reflections. When it comes to the spiritual life, we're all beginners. I also send these out by email. Contact me at bcamera@anselm.edu. God bless!





Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Creating Silence

Wednesday, August 02, 2017
In his book “The Power of Silence,” Cardinal Sarah quotes Pope Benedict XVI:

“we live in a society in which it seems that every space, every moment must be ‘filled’ with projects, activities and noise; there is often no time even to listen or to converse. Dear brothers and sisters, let us not fear to create silence, within and outside ourselves, if we wish to be able not only to become aware of God’s voice but also to make out the voice of the person beside us, the voices of others.” (in Sarah, p. 27)

The Cardinal teaches that God is within every human heart, in the deepest and innermost place in a person’s being, a place of deep interior silence. If we seek God, we don’t need to seek Him outside ourselves, but rather in a profound inner silence where we can draw near the silence presence of God within us.

I’ve been reading the beginning pages of this book, and when I studied the Gospel passage for today’s Mass, I was able to make a connection with two verses from the Gospel of Matthew:

“. . . the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all he has and buys it.”

In my meditation, I considered that the place of interior silence is that pearl, and that I must sell everything I have—that is, all my thoughts and preoccupations—in order to attain it. And so, in my silent breath, I sought out that pearl, and when thoughts or distractions came my way, I “sold” them away and returned my focus to the pearl. This helped me; perhaps it will help you as well.

God bless you!





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