Seeking the Lord in the Sound of Silence

Sherry Hayes-Peirce reflects on our need to lay everything, even the things that distract us from Christ, at the foot of His Cross.

The season of Lent, as it comes to an end, has been all about disruption. In the hopes of being changed by the 40 days, we are called to deprive ourselves of things that distract us from drawing nearer to Christ. Typically, the deprivation is associated with a food or activity that is supposed to help us reflect on the sacrifice Christ made for us. We are called to give to those in need or serve the poor as a form of almsgiving and of course we are called to pray more all in an effort to be transformed.

On this Good Friday of Holy Week my parish will host a service and present a dramatization of our Lord’s Passion. It brings tears to my eyes every year when I hear the song “Were You There?” and the liturgical movement of the veneration of the Cross. We lay everything at the foot of the Cross that separates us from Christ.

So did we really want to be changed or did we just move through the season just to get to the other side and back to what we know? Sitting in the Adoration chapel, I asked myself, “Am I really being transformed?” I challenge you to ask yourself whether giving up a food, drink, social media, or whatever it was you gave up really changed you or your relationship with Christ.

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Did we really want to be changed or did we just move through the season just to get to the other side and back to what we know? #catholicmom

Now, that my grief has reached a more manageable stage I am beginning to get back to creating a schedule for my social media posting, and I forgot about the Easter Season (also known as Eastertide). It is the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost Sunday and chock full of beautiful feast days. The Church also dedicates the month of April to the Holy Spirit and my daily prayer is to call on the Holy Spirit:

Holy Spirit, Come!
Dwell in my heart.
Illuminate my mind.
Direct my footsteps.
Be my guide.

For me, the Holy Spirit is directing me to use the Easter Season to wrap myself up into silent prayerful practices and to be still. Strangely my social media feed started filling up with options for silent retreats after making a request for options on a Facebook post.

When I am working for the Lord during Lent by capturing parish life digitally, I often am not able to soak in many of the experiences that are offered. There is so much going on in the world that disturbs the peace we pray for, causes us to question where is God and question ourselves about the way we are living our faith.

crucifix

As a bereavement minister I have become quite familiar with Ecclesiastes. This verse really resonates for me in this time of my life.

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. (Ecclesiastes 3:7)

IRead the entire chapter: it speaks about how there is a time for everything in our lives—even war—and it clearly outlines how we are called to be in silence at times of our lives. It is so hard for me to be still and silent as it feels uncomfortable for me. To sleep at night, my mind needs the noise of Alexa playing “ocean sounds.” Our parish just finished the Synod listening sessions, and it was an exercise in silence not to speak as I served as a note taker.

I ask for the intercession of St. Catherine Laboure, patron of silence to help me to embrace silence and St. Teresa of Kolkata a wonderful patron for stillness who said “We need to find God and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. We need silence to be able to touch souls,” to inspire me to answer God’s call to be quiet.

This month I will experience a three-day silent retreat that will require me to unplug, to be silent and still. I will read the many books that I have stacked up. I will pray, meditate, and listen for Jesus to whisper what He wills for me to do with my new life as a widow.

If you are feeling like your Lenten journey didn’t leave you feeling transformed, seek an opportunity during the Easter Season to withdraw from the busyness of your life and draw nearer to Christ.