The Journey of Silence

After months of 'Silence', I'm waking up to continue my reflections on Silence. With more responsibilities on my shoulder, I'll be dragging myself along this pathway of silence.

According to Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI, "Silence, until properly befriended, is scary and the process of befriending it is the soul's equivalent of crossing a hot desert. Our insides don't easily become calm, restlessness doesn't easily turn into solitude, and the temptation to turn to the outside world for consolation doesn't easily give way to the idea of quiet."

No matter how much we try to run away from confronting our inner self, there is a peace and a meaning that can only be found inside the desert of our hidden selves, irrespective how chaotic and ragging our inside might be. Therefore, we must take the tedious journey in silence to befriend our deep and hidden inner self. "The deep wells of consolation lie at the end of an inner journey through heat, thirst and dead-ends that must be pushed through with dogged fidelity," says Fr Ron.

This journey through silence helps one to become conscious of the "mystery of the self" that awaits him. Confronting and befriending this "naked" self, opens the door for  a new journey to unfold--encounter with the Divine presence.

‘MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU’

Tuesday of the 5th week of Easter (Acts 14:19-28; Jn 14:27-31) 

                                                            ‘MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU’ 

At the instigation of the visiting Jews, Paul was stoned and left half dead. He regained consciousness and continue to preach the Gospel saying, ‘through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.’ It's obvious that he did not hold anything against those who stoned him, rather he saw it from the perspective of the Kingdom of God. ''I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength'' (Phil 4:13). In the Gospel of today Jesus declares, ''Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.'' What kind of peace is Christ offering us? 

From Paul we see that the peace Christ offers is stronger than any tribulations. It is a peace tested on the Cross to overcome every cross. The world rejects such peace and tells us that peace is the absence of cross. In fact, what the world offers is momentary excitement. Jesus makes peace by laying down His life.''And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross'' (Col 1:20). Since Christ died once for all, it means that only Him can give us peace.  

  

For Paul, If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (Rm 14:8). So the peace of Lord, which comes through the Cross and is stronger than any cross, must be received as a gift. It is a gift we receive when we receive the Lord. Thus, the peace of Jesus begins in the individual who is reconciled with God. Unless we are at peace with God, we know no peace! Jesus said to the disciples on mission, ''Whatever house you enter, first say, peace be to this house!'' (Lk 10:5). Peace comes when we receive Jesus as our savior. He is the king of Peace.

The First Fruit of The Ascension

‘If I do not go, the Advocate will not come’’ (Jn 16:7). Jesus’ ascension opened way for the Holy Spirit to come. His ascension was not a departure; He ascended but still present in the Spirit and the Eucharist. With His Ascension, humanity now has a sure reference in God. Our pleas can be heard through Jesus. Again His ascension asserts the universality of salvation!

While we are looking upwards waiting for the Holy Spirit, the Virgin is already full of the Holy Spirit. She is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. It implies that she is already sharing in the fruits of the Ascension, which includes the universality of her motherhood. She is the Mother to all of whom Jesus is the Saviour.

Mary cannot exercise her universal motherhood if limited by time and space. So, being assumed into Heaven, she shares closely to Jesus' Ascension. Her life is closely tied to that of Jesus. Being in God, body and soul, Mary shares in extra ordinary way in the merits of Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension. Her participation enlivens our hope that we too shall be who she is already.

Being in God, and only in God, can she exercise her universal motherhood on all the faithful. Thus, it is through the power of God that Mary can hear the prayers of her children all over the world. Her apparitions and interventions in the lives of the faithful are possible because of her insertion in the power of God as the Daughter of the Most High, Mother of the Son and Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Thus her motherly care glorifies the Lord as the Most High lifts her up in her lowliness.

Therefore, without the Ascension of Jesus, the Assumption of Mary would not be possible and would lack meaning. Jesus’ Ascension bore its first fruit in Mary. And she manifests the beauty and glory of the Ascension.

Solemnity of the Ascension
Ss Joachim & Ann, Ijegun, Lagos.
14th May, 2015

SILENCE IN THE LITURGY

The liturgy of the Church gives room for silence. We see this in the brief pauses before prayers, the prolonged pause after the homily and Holy Communion, etc. These moments of silence indicate that in the Mass, we offer, not just external gestures or acts, but our whole selves; our hidden selves. Silence is important in the Liturgy.


It gives room for the internalization of the mysteries we celebrate, or rather, the personalization of the objective sacrifice of the Body of Christ, the Church. If silence is destroyed, the celebration becomes more external than internal, and may be reduced to a ‘’show’’. The moments of silence in the Liturgy give deeper meaning to our singing and clapping.

In fact, it is as if all the moments of ‘’noise’’ are directed towards the period of silence and awaits it. Silence shines out in the liturgy as the culminating point of our external gestures. In other words, without this heightening point, the external gestures appear to be open ended. And when this occurs, in-depth and lasting fulfillment from these external gestures may not be felt.

As an act, silence enables us to open our inner life to the spiritual reality we celebrate. As the liturgy is the action of Christ through the Church, we must learn to give way to Christ to lead us and draw us to a deeper communion. We must not forget that it is around His table that we gather; we must not forget that the priest only stands in persona Christi, i.e. it is Jesus who offers Himself but through the action of the Church. These deep mysteries are loudly expressed in the liturgy when we pause before prayers and observe moments of silence. Here silence speaks to us about the Unseen, and deepens us into the mystery we celebrate.



Links to previous articles in the series 'Why am I afraid of Silence?'
Part I: Silence Confronts  http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-am-i-afraid-of-silence.html
part II: The Nature of Silence (a): Silence as Behaviour http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2015/05/why-am-i-afraid-of-silence-ii-silence.html
(b): 'The Conscious Rest' http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-conscious-rest.html
  (c) Silence and Spirituality  http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2015/05/silence-and-spirituality.html




Fr Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help,
Ugwogo-Nike, Enugu, Nigeria.
Feast of Pentecost, May 24, 2015

SILENCE AND SPIRITUALITY

Part II (C) Silence and Spirituality

If silence is an act, and a form of communication, why can’t it be used as a means of prayer? Since we can pass message to each in silence, then we can equally interact with God in silence. God sees in secret and hears the promptings of our hearts (Mt 6:18, Rm 8:27). Our ability to communicate in silence is one of those unique qualities of man that distinguishes him from other animals, and makes him ‘little less than the gods’(Ps 8:5). God communicates to us both in silence and in speech, and we can reach Him or rather, respond to Him in both ways.

In silence we communicate from the heart, not just lip’s service! More so, we communicate with the heart. Further still, in silence we communicate the heart! This is where friendship and bond are formed. Hence, prayer offered in silence (or from the silence of the heart) transforms and unites us the more with God.

The restless and noisy society we commonly experience these days is a reflection of the people’s restless hearts, which remain restless until they rest in God, as St. Augustine would say. A heart that encounters God is less noisy and more humble. Calmness and tranquillity are part of the strength of those filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, silence is a grace. Thus, we not only need to pray in silence, we equally need to pray for the gift of silence.

‘Be still and know that I am God’ (Ps 46:10). Allowing God to lead the way; to determine the paths we follow, is a grace beyond measure. It is in the stillness of our hearts that we can recognize the God who is active in our lives, give way to Him and follow accordingly. Silence is a grace, a treasure, a platform for interpersonal encounter with God. It is a catalyst to spiritual growth.


Links to previous articles in the series 'Why am I afraid of Silence?'
Part I: Silence Confronts  http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-am-i-afraid-of-silence.html
part II: The Nature of Silence (a): Silence as Behaviour http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2015/05/why-am-i-afraid-of-silence-ii-silence.html
(b): 'The Conscious Rest' http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-conscious-rest.html
 

‘THE CONSCIOUS REST’

WHY AM I AFRAID OF SILENCE? PART II: The Nature of Silence (b) The Conscious Rest

We continue to look at the inner life of silence. From the preceding write-ups, we are convinced that silence is an act. As the Psychologist postulated, it can be learned or unlearned. If silence belongs to the realm of action, it then means it is self-generated and involves an active mind.  It is not mere passivity. This is because a silent man is attentive, or rather, he projects his mind to gather and process information at the same time. He picks up and retains data more efficiently.

 

This twofold dimensional reflective psychological projection consumes energy. Simply put: silence can be energy sapping and can generate tension. So one not schooled in it can easily become uncomfortable when confronted by silence; he gets wearied out by it. In the article below (http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2015/05/why-am-i-afraid-of-silence-ii-silence.html), it was discovered that frequent exposure to ‘background noise’ leads to fear of silence.

 

On the other hand, silence can be healthy and energy-giving. It can be a source of replenishing lost strength and healing wounds. As an act that goes in the two directions—outwards and inwards—it bounces back on us to restore lost confidence. Since silence is first and foremost and internal job, it recreates the inner self. In silence we do not merely give ourselves out, rather we receive more than we give out i.e. less information is given out, more is accumulated. Though silence is a conscious act, it inclines one to the direction of inactivity. Ironically, we can say that in silence the mind is consciously at rest.  ‘’Conscious rest’’ is another name I give to silence. Thus, we are refreshed and internally more secure when we embrace silence. Yes, this can be obvious if we consider that the gathering and assimilation of more data brings confidence and tranquillity to the silent mind.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that I am afraid of silence when it confronts me. And it confronts me when I do not practice it.  Therefore, the key to overcoming the fear of silence is to keep learning it or practicing it. The extent of the uneasiness we experience when confronted by silence goes a long way to show how poor a student are we at the school of silence.

Fr. Jude C. Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Mother of Perpetual Help Shrine,

Ugwogo-Nike, Enugu, Nigeria.

WHY AM I AFRAID OF SILENCE? II: Silence as Behaviour

After some years of break, I am making a renewed effort to continue the reflection I published in 2009 titled, WHY AM I AFRAID OF SILENCE? Click here for the first part, titled ‘Silence Confronts’ http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-am-i-afraid-of-silence.html A guest writer has spurred me on to continue the reflection by initiating part 2, which attempts to answer the question: ‘What kind of silence am I afraid of?’ To answer this question, we must look at the nature of silence. Our guest writer, as a Psychologist, views silence from the dimension of human actions or behaviour. Subsequently, we shall draw other impacts of silence, including spirituality and relationship.

 Excerpts:

                                                  SILENCE AS BEHAVIOUR

What do we understand by silence?

Silence is said to mean the absence of intentional sounds. By intentional sounds we mean things we turn on, like TVs. I-pods, words we speak, and the ones we hear, music, game sounds, etc. By this definition of silence, we can say that silence is a purposeful quietness, and also an action.

Fear of silence is also said to be a learnt behaviour. This theory can be supported with a research conducted by Drs Michael Bittman and Mark Sipthorp with 580 undergraduate students.[1] This research was undertaken over six years, and the result shows that constant accessibility and exposure to background media leads to fear of silence. Since fear of silence of silence is a learnt behaviour, it can also be unlearned by confronting the experience of silence.
                 
SILENCE AS AN ACTION
Silence implies consent. This is a concept in "Social Interaction" which means that people tend to assume silence to an action as tacit approval of that action. For instance, when there is an issue and you are being silent, others may interpret that as consent. Silence on the other hand can mean objecting. Example, if somebody calls you an idiot and you remain silent, it can mean that the person is too much of an idiot to deserve a response.

Summarily, silence is an action which implies consent and also an objection, depending on the purpose it is being used.
 
Written by:
Adachukwu Umeh, B.Sc. Psy
amikangel4real@yahoo.com

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[1]Hofmann, G. (2013). Our Fear of Silence.Psych Central.Retrieved on April  23, 2015 from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/16/our-fear-of-ilence.