Scripture:
Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Matthew 5:17-19
Reflection:
In today’s Gospel, Jesus addresses his disciples, mostly working-class Jews who knew the Ten Commandments and the minutiae of Jewish laws.
Jesus did not mince words. We must follow God’s will to fully live in the reign of God. And we must do this until “all things have taken place.”
Our noisy, distracting culture puts priority on personal choice, utilitarianism, private fulfillment, and individualism. We seek to live without limits. We want to be our own gods, in control, practical, functional. We carry the constant burden of never wanting to miss an event, “experience,” or latest gossip and news. We fill our minds with useless rubbish, clutter, and garbage.
Jay C. Rochelle has written, “The din and roars of the incessant noises of our daily world is enough to drown out both the impulse to prayer and its interiority. In the midst of so much noise the impulse to pray is eventually lost. We are swept away on the sounds and we move further away from that center where we know the experience of God.”
In dismissing prayer, we miss the opportunities silence affords us, the very place where God speaks the loudest.
In silence we can be free from an enslaving, oppressive, over-stimulating world.
In silence we abnegate and forget ourselves in order to pay attention to Christ.
In silence we discover the will of God.
In silence we rest in a place where our partnership with Christ is enhanced, our total trust in him is renewed.
In silence we come face-to-face with the false idols of money, fame, status, power over others and power over our common home…earth.
In silence we grasp how and when to respect life by banning war, poverty, homelessness, hunger, ignorance, racism, elitism, and domination and devaluation of the weak and vulnerable.
In silence we gradually learn to keep promises, not gossip, not trash anyone, welcome everyone, not judge, and to free ourselves from wealth and possessions.
The commandments to live by are written in our hearts, not on a government building or classroom wall.
“Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Perhaps today you can extend your silent time alone with Christ to let Christ speak in silence to your heart.
Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.