“Silence is not the exile of speech. It is the love of the One Word. (SARAH, p80.)”

I have been reading a book recently called, The Power of Silence, Against the Dictatorship of Noise, by the Prefect for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah. What I would like to do these next few weeks of Advent is reflect on some of the points brought up here with the hope that they might become a part of every person’s life who struggles heroically to become a saint.

There are four topics: Earth, Heart, Mary and God. I would like to conclude on Christmas Day with Silent Night: Silence in the Manger.

The Gospel this morning bids us to “be watchful! Be Alert…You do not know when the Lord of the House is coming.”

This is an introduction to Advent as a time of real waiting, not of idle waiting, but rather of an active waiting, a persistent watching. The act of waiting is essentially spiritual, but cannot be truly purposeful unless it becomes a waiting, without the use of our senses. Cleansing our hearts and minds of all distraction; leaving only a cave of holy darkness and silent bliss, is possible for those who try and work hard at it; persistent watching. The Logos of God or the Word made Flesh, Who is Jesus, makes it necessary for human beings to actively participate in the Divine Mystery which is purposeful and redeeming. God purposefully creates in order to fulfill His Divine Providence. Our redemption hinges not just on our desire to be holy like Him but on our willingness to surrender to that Providence, even though it may be unseen.

Continue reading “First Sunday of Advent: “Rediscover Silence!”” →

Every Christian has a double citizenship. We are citizens of the world and citizens of heaven. In the worldly, a person owes a great many things. He owes his safety; his public services, the protection of his God-given rights to the State. This debt places us all under the obligation to be men and women of honor by respecting our duty as good citizens in protecting the common good.

My dear friends, the Christian is also a citizen of heaven. There are matters of conscience, of religion, of principle and of universal unchangeable truth in which the responsibility of the Christian is to God alone. We owe to God many more things; our inalienable rights as human beings, the salvation of our souls as well as the salvation of others.

Continue reading “We can be good citizen and a good servant of God by forming a right conscience” →

Once, I had the pleasure of having dinner with two older Portuguese people; a brother and a sister. They told me the story of their father’s conversion.

Their father was a very proud, abusive man who was an avowed atheist who actively persecuted Christians. On October 13, 1917, he left the house to heckle and throw stones at three young children who claimed to be having visions of Mary. On that day, Mary promised a miracle that everyone could see.

Some time passed, the couple remembered when all od saddened their father burst through their front door, fell on his knees and began to recite the Rosary. He told them he had seen the Sun dancing in the sky and falling to the earth.

Continue reading “The Rosary is the prayer of humanity” →

The passage this morning from the Gospel of Matthew presents us with an action plan for mending broken relationships that often result from a lack of attention to our Christian responsibilities.

If we feel someone has wronged us, we should immediately put our complaint into words. Holding a grudge for any length of time is ludicrous in the mind of a Christian.

Continue reading “The importance of human reconciliation” →

“Lord, help me!” The woman in today’s Gospel has great tenacity! She is persistent in her faith with good self-discipline. I don’t know if you remember in school we used to have a grade for self-discipline. It is a good characteristic to have and an essential quality in the spiritual life.

I usually get up in the morning at 4:30. The first thing I do is exercise. The only thing that gets me through is the thought of a hot cup of coffee. When the alarm goes off, my first prayer of the day is, LORD, HELP ME.

Continue reading ““Lord, help me!”” →