A Conversation In The Silence


During his Wednesday audience this week, the Holy Father spoke about the importance of silence in our spiritual lives. He explained how monasteries are oases conducive to silence, prayer and meditation. This being the case, many religious communities build their monasteries in wooded and pastoral settings. The Holy Father also went on to say that God speaks to us in the silence, but we need to know how to listen to Him.
Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on this topic are ones I can truly relate to because I crave silence in my life. This craving is part of the reason I make a silent retreat once a year. It is in those six days of silence that I hear God the loudest. While I would love to live that retreat life 365 days a year, I know that is not possible, but I still need silence in my daily life. I find it sitting in church before the tabernacle or in my parish's Adoration Chapel. Since I live alone, I can also find it at home, but that means resisting the temptation to fill the silence with TV or stereo.
Our prayer life is a conversation with God; it is a dialogue, but it is the one conversation that takes place in the silence.
If we are to hear what God wants to say to us, we must learn to be still, patient, and allow Him to be God, or as a spiritual director once told me, "Be aware, alert, and attentive." We may not hear Him immediately, but if we are persistent in our silent prayer, we will hear him.
So be still and know that He is God and enjoy the conversation in the silence.
All this talk of silence made me think of the hymn, You Are Mine so allow me to break your silence for five minutes with this beautiful version of that hymn.

*Text of Pope Benedict's Wednesday Audience




Comments

This is a great post.

Many believe that prayer is talking to God and giving Him earache. No one has time to stop and listen. They want to serve God in an advisory capacity.

God bless you Karinann.
Anne said…
I like how you say you have to resist the temptation to fill the silence of your home with tv or stereo. That's a difficult temptation to resist.
Daily Grace said…
The Holy Father is so right about the need for silence in our lives. I, too, crave silence. In silence I find a peace, in peace I find Christ.

Adoration is such a blessing, isn't it, just silence, peace and Jesus.

Thank you for this one!
momOf3 said…
I believe that it is in silence that we encounter God, in silence we hear Him and are able to listen to Him. But I bless God too that He deals with each one of us as He sees fit. I have had experiences where 30mins or 1 hr of adoration and I hear only silence from God. But in the midst of my daily activities, in taking care of my kids, in my work, in sitting among friends and I hear Him whisper an answer to a question or plea. And in these moments that I praise God the more, it is where I hear Him clearer and know that its not a figment of my own self-absorption. Thank God. And thank you Karinann for your post. Your blog has been my comfort these days.
Kathryn said…
Such a wonderful post! This song "You are Mine" played such a powerful role at the first Silent Retreat I went on last year. I was really struggling with knowing that I belong to God. On the last night of the retreat, I could not sleep. I got up out of bed and went down to the chapel to pray before Jesus in the tabernacle, and then He placed this song in my heart and I wept as I knew then that I do belong to Him and He has chosen me. All in the silence of the chapel, He sang to me in my heart. Thank you for reminding me! And thank You God for the many reminders lately of the need for silence in our lives.
Unknown said…
Thank you all for your thoughts on the importance of silence.
Kathryn- I can relate to what you said about this song. It just seemed to come to me as I was writing the post- I haven't heard it in a very long time.
Momof3 thank you for sharing some of your personal experiences with this and for your kind words about this blog.

Blessings to you all.
Unknown said…
Colleen,
Glad to hear you are going in retreat. Prayers for a fruitful time away in the silence. Looking forward to my own in a little more than 3 weeks.
Judy Dudich said…
When I was young, I used to tell my father that I found "silence" to be "deafening" and he would tell me that there would come a time in my life when I would find it to be "golden". He was right:)