World Communications Day 2012: Rediscover Silence in the Cacophony of the Contemporary Age

God is the friend of silence, in that silence he will listen to us; there he will speak to our soul, and there we will hear his voice.

In our prayers, we often find ourselves facing the silence of God. We almost experience a sense of abandonment; it seems that God does not listen and does not respond. But this silence, as happened to Jesus, does not signify absence. Christians know that the Lord is present and listens, even in moments of darkness and pain, of rejection and solitude. Jesus assures His disciples and each one of us that God is well aware of our needs at every moment of our lives.

P>WASHINGTON,DC (Catholic online) - On Sunday, May 20, 2012, some Catholics celebrated the Feast of the Ascension because the Feast was transferred from Thursday in their particular Diocese. Others celebrated the seventh Sunday of Easter. Either way, the Lord's day called us to focus on the Source of Peace in an age of continued conflict, the Risen Lord Jesus Christ who continues to live His life among us.

However, the cacophony of disturbing news stories continued unabated. The good news of the release of Chinese Human Rights activist Chen Guangcheng and his arrival in the U.S. was sadly counterbalanced by the news that the NAACP leadership had lost its moral compass. The leadership of this once great organizational protector of true Civil Rights issued a statement rejecting marriage as a union between one man and one woman and endorsing the profane notion that there is a civil right to engage in homosexual acts.

In the midst of all the clamor, confusion and noise, World Communications Day fell on May 20, 2012. We must not allow its important theme - and its direction - to pass unnoticed and go unheeded.

On Thursday, September 29, 2011 the Pontifical Council for Social Communications announced the theme for 2012: Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization. In announcing the theme they explained, "In the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterizes society today but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favors habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word."

Pope Benedict XVI is a man of deep prayer. Because of that, he possesses the kind of wisdom we all so desperately need in this urgent hour. On Wednesday, March 6, 2012, he concluded a teaching series in which he instructed the faithful to learn how to pray.Ten thousand eager pilgrims heard this man of deep prayer illuminate the beauty of the silence in the life of Jesus Christ as an example for all of us in pursuing our own call to intimacy with God.

He explained that silence is necessary to hear the Word of God, noting that "our age does not, in fact, favor reflection and contemplation; quite the contrary it seems that people are afraid to detach themselves, even for an instant, from the spate of words and images which mark and fill our days".

He continued, "the Gospels often show us ... Jesus withdrawing alone to a place far from the crowds, even from His own disciples, where He can pray in silence". Moreover, "the great patristic tradition teaches us that the mysteries of Christ are linked to silence, and only in silence can the Word find a place to dwell within us".

"This principle", the Holy Father reminded us, "holds true for individual prayer, but also for our liturgies which, to facilitate authentic listening, must also be rich in moments of silence and of non verbal acceptance. ... Silence has the capacity to open a space in our inner being, a space in which God can dwell, which can ensure that His Word remains within us, and that love for Him is rooted in our minds and hearts, and animates our lives".

He emphasized the connection between silence and prayer, "In our prayers, we often find ourselves facing the silence of God. We almost experience a sense of abandonment; it seems that God does not listen and does not respond. But this silence, as happened to Jesus, does not signify absence. Christians know that the Lord is present and listens, even in moments of darkness and pain, of rejection and solitude. Jesus assures His disciples and each one of us that God is well aware of our needs at every moment of our lives".

"For us, who are so frequently concerned with operational effectiveness and with the results ... we achieve, the prayer of Jesus is a reminder that we need to stop, to experience moments of intimacy with God, 'detaching ourselves' from the turmoil of daily life in order to listen, to return to the 'root' which nourishes and sustains our existence. One of the most beautiful moments of Jesus' prayer is when, faced with the sickness, discomfort and limitations of his interlocutors, He addresses His Father in prayer, thus showing those around him where they must go to seek the source of hope and salvation".

The Pope reminded us all that the most profound point of the prayer of Jesus to the Father came at the moment of His passion and death. Citing the Catechism (Par #2606) he explained that "His cry to the Father from the cross encapsulated 'all the troubles, for all time, of humanity enslaved by sin and death, all the petitions and intercessions of salvation history are summed up in this cry of the incarnate Word. Here the Father accepts them and, beyond all hope, answers them by raising His Son. Thus is fulfilled and brought to completion the drama of prayer in the economy of creation and salvation'".

Pope Benedict XVI calls all of us into that same posture of prayer in the midst of the noise of the contemporary age. It is there, in the embrace of prayer, where he finds the source of his inner strength. It is there where we must begin to find our own. He has the kind of living faith that gets into the marrow of the bones of a man who truly walks with God, making him strong, steady and unafraid of any adversary. We can all find that same source of strength in the midst of the cacophony of the contemporary age.

He calls all of us to the kind of genuine conversion that comes only through prayer. Only a Church of holiness, mystery, mission and true majesty can accomplish the huge task that lies ahead of us. The Church that was born from the wounded side of Jesus Christ, who stretched His arms out on the tree of our redemption to embrace the world, is desperately in need of deep and profound conversion. Prayer is the path to that much needed conversion.

Through His Incarnation, Saving Life, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus opens the way to full communion with God for all men and women. He leads us out of the emptiness and despair that is the rotted fruit of the narcissism, nihilism and materialism of contemporary culture. When we enter into the dialogue of prayer, we can experience a progressive, dynamic and intimate relationship with God. He transforms us from within.

Through prayer, daily life takes on new meaning. It becomes a classroom of communion. In that classroom we learn the truth about who we are - and who we are becoming - in Jesus. Through prayer we receive new glasses through which we see the true landscape of life. Through prayer darkness is dispelled and the path of progress is illuminated.

The God who is Love hungers for the communion of sons and daughters - and we hunger for communion with Him - because He made us this way. Nothing else will satisfy. The early Church Father Origen once wrote: "Every spiritual being is, by nature, a temple of God, created to receive into itself the glory of God."

Mother Teresa once wrote: "God is the friend of silence, in that silence he will listen to us; there he will speak to our soul, and there we will hear his voice. The fruit of silence is faith. The fruit of faith is prayer, the fruit of prayer is love, the fruit of love is service and the fruit of service is silence.

"In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Silence gives us a new way of looking at everything. We need this silence in order to touch souls. God is the friend of silence. His language is silence. 'Be still and know that I am God'."

World Communications Day 2012 calls us all to rediscover the power of silence in the cacophony of the contemporary age.

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