Seek the Lord in Silence
How often do we take time to listen to the Lord? To take time in silence? Sometimes we come into the church and we are in such a rush. We come in seconds before Mass begins and we leave right after Mass is over. We don’t take time to sit in quiet just to be with the Lord. Or when we are here, we rattle off prayer after prayer after prayer or read a book or have to say something. We can never be in silence. We are a people who are afraid to be quiet. We get in the car, and we turn on the radio. We go in the house and we turn on the television in one room, we turn on the stereo in another, we go in the bedroom and turn on the TV there. There is so much noise, noise, noise that you just want to throw all those noise makers into the trash.
The noise drives me nuts after a while. You know, I love music. I have my ipod and I have thousands of songs on it, but after a while, you listen to it and it just does nothing for you. We are not made for noise. We are made to be filled with the Lord, and anything else we try to fill our inside with, after a while, we have enough of it. Now music is beautiful. It was created by God. We can worship God and praise Him by listening to music, but it’s not God. You need the Lord to fill the inside. You need to be alone with the Lord.
He wants to speak to us, but we’ll never hear God’s voice or hear the Lord speaking to us unless we take time for silence. I’m not saying you are going to hear His voice coming down from heaven saying, “I want you to do this.” No, that’s not how God normally works. He speaks in the quiet. He speaks through the movements in our hearts and our souls, to lead us to do things that are good, to lead us to avoid things that are evil.
So if we feel that God is there, how do we know it’s God’s voice? Well, first and foremost those inner promptings will never go against what Sacred Scripture teaches. It never goes against the teachings of the Church. I’ve heard people say, “Well, the Lord wants me to do this and the Church is wrong.” Well, the Church isn’t wrong. The Fathers of the Church always said, right from the beginning, “Where there is Christ, there is the Church.” If we separate ourselves from the voice of the Church, we separate ourselves from the voice of Christ. So let us take time to get in the habit, to take time for silence, to be alone with the Lord. If you can’t do it in the Church, do it in your homes. Shut off the television, put the vacuum cleaner away because there is going to be more dust after you finish. Spend time alone with the Lord. Spend time alone with Him in the silence.
You know why we don’t like silence? Because when we go into silence, first and foremost we have to listen to our insides. “You have to do this. You have to do that. If you don’t do this, you’re going to be out of touch with everybody else in the neighborhood.” Our minds run away. Then you start to see your imperfections, faults, and failings because, when we are in silence with God, we open our heart and the Lord says, “You know, you’re not right because you are doing this” or “You’re not doing that.” Silence is what leads us into the heart of God. It leads us into contemplative prayer, and contemplative prayer leads us into deep union with Jesus Christ. If we don’t take time for silence, it will never happen.
So today let’s make a commitment to spend at least five minutes a day with God in silence each day. Then make it ten minutes, fifteen, twenty. Then see if eventually you can spend an hour in silence with the Lord. Then, after a while, you will see that things will begin to happen. You are going to hear His voice–not an audible voice (maybe you will but very few people hear an audible voice). You will hear Him speaking within your heart, giving you impulses, that sense that they say women have, that sixth sense. They know what’s happening with their kids and their family because the Lord speaks in their heart. Usually women are more open to being moved by the Spirit. That’s why they have this sense with their kids. Each one of us has this sense. It’s called the grace of God. We have to seek that grace in silence.
God love you,
Father Finelli
Dear Father Finelli, I thank God and Our Lady ,for you , for this site, for beeing included in your mailings and for this oportunity to write to you. I have been receiving your mailings for many years, i do not even remember when or how it first started. All I know is that Ialways love to read everything you send. After I read today Seeck the Lord in silence I tought about it for a while. I am a person that Loves silence, someone once told me that in my house is like somebody died. If I am home alone I do not turn on the TV or stereo. I love to be in peace. I think my house is peaceful, because a few years back a nephew of one of my friends come here from the Filipines, he is a Priest and she brougth him to our home to bless it, and when he came inside the door his first words were. Moma Mary is here we can fell Her presence. this home is so peaceful. When I go to visit the Blessed Sacrament, there is always somebody there praying out loud and i wished i could be there alone with Him just me and Him. In my mind I would think I could pray better and remember better what i wanted to tell Him. But then when it happens that I am alone ,again i do not know what to tell Him. I just sit there and look at Jesus And Him looking back at me. I never shared this with anyone I thougth people would say I was crazy. I love those moments. Because maybe I think I am a private person I never tell anybody my fears, my concerns, my saddenss or my joys, but I go to Church and tell Him everything and cry. i dont think I ever heard God speaking to my heart,maby because i did not know how He spoke to us, but i remember telling Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament I love to be here with You, Jesus I do not see more than a Host with my human eyes, but I see You with the eyes of my soul, and I beleive You are here present. Do You see me? How do You see me? I hope You don’t see me very agly. I did not get an answer, but I remember a very warm feeling inside of me and i new no matter how agly I really am inside He loves me. And I cried. I am not very religious or maybe I am and I do not know. What I know is: many times I think I do not love God and Our Lady, and these thougts make me so sick sad and i cry, because i want to love them with all my heart. I know they love me so much, because even the littlest thing i tell them i am so sure they listen. And I will tell you an exemple. Ever since I heard of Medjugoje I wanted to go there. But I always thougth it impossible. Only my husband works. In 2004 we had a priest from the Acores Portugal coming here for a retrite, we live about 2 1/2 hours from San Francisco, me and two other ladies had to take him back to the airport, because everybody else was working that day. We got there with about 3 hours to spare, and the Priest told us we could leave him there because we had a long trip back home, but we said no and we waited with him. We talked about many things, we joke around, and then one of the ladies says: oh how i wish I could go with you and go to Fatima. I said I have a dream I want so much to go to Medjugorje. And I know I will go one day, if not on this life, I know Our Lady will take me there when I die. They all laughed and said they wanted to go places now not after they died, but i said I desire to go so much to this place, but I know we can’t aforth to go in my life time, that I am happy that Our Lady will take me there when I died. That very day, when I got home my sister in law called me and tells me: guess what there is going to be a pilgrimage from Fresno Diocese to Medjugorje in November and I am going, your brother already said that I can go, it is only women this time. Do you want to go? All you need to do is put $500 down now and pay off by the end of August, this was the month of May. I told her no, because we could not afforth for me to go. My husband was rigth there listening and he asks me Isn’t this the place that you wanted so much to go? I said yes. He said tell Blanca that you are going. I said no, we can’t were we will get the money? Tell her you are going. Our Lady will help us get the money if She wants you to go. And I went. Medjugorje it is a holy place. The most wonderful things happen there to me. I can never forget. Those were the most wonderful 10 days of my whole life. My dream now is that one day we can go again this time me and my husband.And I know it will happen one day.
Like i said in the begining i do love silence. I love just to be here in quite not read or even pray, just look at the pictures of Jesus Divine Mercy in my livingroom wall or Our Lady of Fatima and Medgorje on the end table and on the wall together with my sons and 2 grandchildren. God bless you Father Finelli, And I pray that the next time I will go to Medjugorje my husband will go to and we will go with you so i can meet you in person, Fernanda Medeiros
Dear Father Finelli, I thank God and Our Lady ,for you , for this site, for beeing included in your mailings and for this oportunity to write to you. I have been receiving your mailings for many years, i do not even remember when or how it first started. All I know is that Ialways love to read everything you send. After I read today Seeck the Lord in silence I tought about it for a while. I am a person that Loves silence, someone once told me that in my house is like somebody died. If I am home alone I do not turn on the TV or stereo. I love to be in peace. I think my house is peaceful, because a few years back a nephew of one of my friends come here from the Filipines, he is a Priest and she brougth him to our home to bless it, and when he came inside the door his first words were. Moma Mary is here we can fell Her presence. this home is so peaceful. When I go to visit the Blessed Sacrament, there is always somebody there praying out loud and i wished i could be there alone with Him just me and Him. In my mind I would think I could pray better and remember better what i wanted to tell Him. But then when it happens that I am alone ,again i do not know what to tell Him. I just sit there and look at Jesus And Him looking back at me. I never shared this with anyone I thougth people would say I was crazy. I love those moments. Because maybe I think I am a private person I never tell anybody my fears, my concerns, my saddenss or my joys, but I go to Church and tell Him everything and cry. i dont think I ever heard God speaking to my heart,maby because i did not know how He spoke to us, but i remember telling Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament I love to be here with You, Jesus I do not see more than a Host with my human eyes, but I see You with the eyes of my soul, and I beleive You are here present. Do You see me? How do You see me? I hope You don’t see me very agly. I did not get an answer, but I remember a very warm feeling inside of me and i new no matter how agly I really am inside He loves me. And I cried. I am not very religious or maybe I am and I do not know. What I know is: many times I think I do not love God and Our Lady, and these thougts make me so sick sad and i cry, because i want to love them with all my heart. I know they love me so much, because even the littlest thing i tell them i am so sure they listen. And I will tell you an exemple. Ever since I heard of Medjugoje I wanted to go there. But I always thougth it impossible. Only my husband works. In 2004 we had a priest from the Acores Portugal coming here for a retrite, we live about 2 1/2 hours from San Francisco, me and two other ladies had to take him back to the airport, because everybody else was working that day. We got there with about 3 hours to spare, and the Priest told us we could leave him there because we had a long trip back home, but we said no and we waited with him. We talked about many things, we joke around, and then one of the ladies says: oh how i wish I could go with you and go to Fatima. I said I have a dream I want so much to go to Medjugorje. And I know I will go one day, if not on this life, I know Our Lady will take me there when I die. They all laughed and said they wanted to go places now not after they died, but i said I desire to go so much to this place, but I know we can’t aforth to go in my life time, that I am happy that Our Lady will take me there when I died. That very day, when I got home my sister in law called me and tells me: guess what there is going to be a pilgrimage from Fresno Diocese to Medjugorje in November and I am going, your brother already said that I can go, it is only women this time. Do you want to go? All you need to do is put $500 down now and pay off by the end of August, this was the month of May. I told her no, because we could not afforth for me to go. My husband was rigth there listening and he asks me Isn’t this the place that you wanted so much to go? I said yes. He said tell Blanca that you are going. I said no, we can’t were we will get the money? Tell her you are going. Our Lady will help us get the money if She wants you to go. And I went. Medjugorje it is a holy place. The most wonderful things happen there to me. I can never forget. Those were the most wonderful 10 days of my whole life. My dream now is that one day we can go again this time me and my husband.And I know it will happen one day.
Like i said in the begining i do love silence. I love just to be here in quite not read or even pray, just look at the pictures of Jesus Divine Mercy in my livingroom wall or Our Lady of Fatima and Medgorje on the end table and on the wall together with my sons and 2 grandchildren. God bless you Father Finelli, And I pray that the next time I will go to Medjugorje my husband will go to and we will go with you so i can meet you in person, Fernanda Medeiros
Father, this picture of St. Peter Martyr is actually asking permission to speak! This is was the “sign language” in the early Order to speak.
God bless you!
Thank you Sr. Mary. Maybe we all need to ask the Lord when to speak and we will all be much quieter.
Seek the Lord in Silence Homily –
Thank you very much for these words Father. I wish more priests had both the courage and humility to remind us of the graces that silence can bring, whether it be in the minutes before Mass, or prayer in our own homes. I am often reminded of the words from a teenager in Italy who so innocently and eloquently said,
“Every day we are surrounded, distracted, entertained by words, and yet we are deaf to The Word, Jesus, who has the words of eternal life.”
Peace to you, and may we all be open to the still, small voice of God.
Kathleen Luz
New Hampshire
Fr. O’Briend recommended silence after reconcillation and during adoration. It a wonderful thing souls can do to comfort the Lord. Amen.
Silence is golden. I wish I can spend time in silence.
Thank you for your posting I also enjoy silence and times I just feel like going to an Island where I will be alone and I once told my daughter that I would like to go to confinement but I cant now until my children are all grown up. I also enjoy going to the Grotto alone but unfortunately our parish is still new and it doesnt have one I just hope and pray that one day I will get money to build on. My main wish is to go to Medjugorje one day I know that I will go though I cannot afford it at the moment I am just dying to go there. I have a question for you (what is the meaning of dropping the eucharist (host) when you are taking it to the alter during offetory.
Thank you
Ireen,
I’m not sure what you mean by your question. Did you or someone drop the unconsecrated hosts during the offertory? If someone accidentally drops the host, either consecrated or unconsecrated, there is no meaning. Sometimes, those things, however careful we are, may happen. If the host is consecrated, the place where the host fell should be washed with water and the purificators used for the purification should be washed out in the sacrarium.
Thanks for coming back to me I dropped the unconcecrated host while handing it to the Priest and I am so worried I just wanted some clarity because it happened at the alter during holy thursday mass after fasting on bread and water during lent and I just wanted to find out if its a sin, it has been bothering me so much but thank you. It has never happened to me before and I was so scared and I was even thinking of giving up being a Eucharist Minister if I am not worth it. Its so nice to have some people like you to help us please keep up the good work. May God bless you.