If you love the truth, be a lover of silence/Si amas la verdad, sé amante del silencio. - Isaac the Syrian
This month the next stage of the Synod on Synondality has been taking place in the Vatican. The Reverend Mother Maria Ignazia Angelini, O.S.B., gave one of the retreat meditations. Below are some highlights from her talk on silence, edited to reflect our purpose here:
Silence is the struggle against banality. It is a search for truth, it is welcoming the mystery hidden in every person and every living being. It does not explain suffering but traverses through it. Silence can help us rediscover the true and authentic rhythm of synodal dialogue.
Silence is perhaps the most difficult element to live in our lives. When we pause in silence it is not a diversion. Instead the silence that praises God is the precious silence of those who know how to remove themselves from the stage and live a kind of fruitful solitude open to otherness; listening to the word of God, the cry of the poor, and the groans of creation. Silence-praise is not bloated emptiness, but is wonder before the coming of God among God’s own.
Those who allow themselves to be seized with wonder before the stillness of God’s silence understand how silence is the fundamental dimension of true human speech, which, as such, sings the praise of the Most High. Every human word is preceded, is sustained, and is surpassed by the silence that praises God. The heart finds breath in tuning in to that silence in which the Word was heard in the beginning (Genesis 1). Listen in awe to the unheard.
Showcasing SHA talent: Ezequiel in 5th grade shows a car quietly parked outside.
God Bless,
Mrs. Alhadef
Campus Minister
4th Grade Aide