Advent
Silence
But God says to us that we need to be still and silent before Him. Saturday, November 19, I had the wonderful opportunity to guide the Eucharistic Adoration at St. James' parish, when we helped them host a youth group from London, on their way home from Toronto. The words of this Psalm spoke poignantly to me as I did this, especially as we began. In the silence, the teenagers almost seemed to not know what to do. Something seemed missing. Why weren't we doing anything?
And yet, we were doing the most important thing, by doing nothing at all. As we simply sat or kneeled in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament--in the Presence of Jesus Himself, we really did come to know that He is God! But even then, I played some music in the background to help us focus: some songs by Mark Mallett, that spoke of how, when we are in Jesus' Presence, we are really taken beyond this world, into the Holy of Holies, and we join in singing with the angels in worship of Him!
Silence is one more way that we see the world has things backwards. Especially as we enter this season of Advent, preparing for Christmas, we can get so caught up in the hustle and bustle and downright madness of the season, that we forget that the only ones making noise on that original Silent Night were those same angels announcing to us the real reason for it all!
If you don't take the time to be still, to be in Jesus' Presence, you might not hear them.
"Be still and know that I Am God."-Psalm 46:10In our industrious, fast-paced, microwave society, sometimes the impact of these simple words are lost. "Be still" sounds too much like "be lazy." And when we are still, it is most often to sleep (or, if you are like me, you aren't even still then!) or to watch tv.
But God says to us that we need to be still and silent before Him. Saturday, November 19, I had the wonderful opportunity to guide the Eucharistic Adoration at St. James' parish, when we helped them host a youth group from London, on their way home from Toronto. The words of this Psalm spoke poignantly to me as I did this, especially as we began. In the silence, the teenagers almost seemed to not know what to do. Something seemed missing. Why weren't we doing anything?
And yet, we were doing the most important thing, by doing nothing at all. As we simply sat or kneeled in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament--in the Presence of Jesus Himself, we really did come to know that He is God! But even then, I played some music in the background to help us focus: some songs by Mark Mallett, that spoke of how, when we are in Jesus' Presence, we are really taken beyond this world, into the Holy of Holies, and we join in singing with the angels in worship of Him!
Silence is one more way that we see the world has things backwards. Especially as we enter this season of Advent, preparing for Christmas, we can get so caught up in the hustle and bustle and downright madness of the season, that we forget that the only ones making noise on that original Silent Night were those same angels announcing to us the real reason for it all!
If you don't take the time to be still, to be in Jesus' Presence, you might not hear them.
posted by Gregory at 10:22 a.m.
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