Falling silent

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O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!

Scripture tells us Mary set out in haste, but was Mary hasty?  Consider once again the scene of the Annunciation from yesterday.  In that moment with the angel, Mary modeled contemplative dialogue, a way of leaning in, a way of listening deeply with one’s heart.  That moment was a true pregnant pause, a pondering filled with much life, potential, possibility. It was as if all rested – was hushed and fell silent – in that moment, waiting for her Yes.  Once that yes was uttered, once that yes came to be in her fiat, new life came ushering forth from her, propelling her to action and proclamation, causing her to move, to “set out in haste.”  There was no hasty decision here; it was not hurried. No, Mary’s haste was the result of a complete yes that was born out of contemplation, and it had a certain urgency to it.

Such a true yes uttered in one’s life invites a deep response from all those encountered because of that yes.  It causes a leap within, just as Elizabeth had experienced with John in her womb.  Contemplation propels us into action, to set in haste on the journey, but before we set out in haste, we must take the time for the hush of silence; if not, we will set out too hastily.  Augustine writes, “Let us leave a little room for reflection, room too for silence. Enter into yourself, leave behind all noise and confusion. Look within yourself and see whether there be some hidden place in your consciousness where you can be free of noise and argument, where you need not be carrying on your disputes and planning to have your own stubborn way.  Hear the word in quietness that you may understand it. Then perhaps you will say, ‘You will let me hear the sounds of joys and gladness, and my bones shall rejoice.’” (Sermon 52, 22).  Are we willing to fall silent in order to hear the Word that we are to proclaim speak within us first?

A reflection written by Kevin DePrinzio O.S.A., Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, US


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Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Col 4:6

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