Homily originally preached August 9, 2020

by Monsignor Deering

Seek and Savor some Silence so you can hear God speak to you!

Perhaps there have been times when you’ve been out to a restaurant with friends and realize that the music they’re playing is too loud ... making it difficult to hear those you’re dining with and difficult for them to hear you.

I have no problem asking the waitress to please lower the music and thankfully most of the time they comply making it much easier to carry on a conversation.

This process of lowering the surrounding noise not only makes it easier to hear ...

        but it makes is easier to think too.

Which is why there is very little noise in a library.

Walk into a big library and the silence is very noticeable ...

there’s a hush and a silence that you can actually feel!

Why?   Because people are there … to read ... and to study and to think.

And that’s best accomplished when they’re not distracted by noise.

Well, noise also has a distracting effect in another area …

one that is most important to us ... and that’s when you’re trying to pray.

Why is that?

Well, prayer is also a time to think ... and have a conversation … with God …

and noise makes it difficult for us to hear Him.

God always hears us ... but we don’t always hear Him.

God can speak to us any way He wants, but the most common way is in quiet.

In our First reading today, where was it that Elijah found the Lord ?

It was not in the heavy wind, the mighty earthquake or the fire.

No it was in the tiny whispering sound.  

Like Elijah, we too will find God in the quiet whispering in our hearts.

Which is why there’s very little noise in Church ... or at least there should be!

People here are trying to hear … they’re trying to hear ... God.

Noise hinders our efforts to hear the voices ... of other people.

And noise sure hinders our ability to hear the small whispering voice ... of God.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that TV commercials are broadcast at a higher volume than the regular program. Why is that?

Well, when there’s a commercial break in the program (sporting event or movie)

that’s the time people typically turn away from the TV for conversation ...

or even get up and leave the room to go to the bathroom or the refrigerator.

But the Commercial Advertisers don’t want that, they want you to watch their commercial ... so they broadcast it with at a higher volume making a better chance to distract you from turning away in conversation or leaving the room.

Thankfully there’s software now that lowers or even mutes commercials

so that you can converse with one another in peace.

Noise distracts us from listening.

Noise distracts us from thinking.

Perhaps you’ve heard the expression, “I can’t hear myself think!”

Mom used to say that when all us kids were raising an uproar in the house.

If you can’t hear yourself think,

it’s unlikely that you’ll hear the still small voice of God speaking to you.

Which is why it’s so important to get away from noise when you want to pray.

In our Gospel, Matthew describes how Jesus prayed, writing,

“He went up on the mountain by himself to pray.”

There’s no noise up on a mountain. It’s peaceful and it’s quiet and it’s there that Jesus was able to be in conversation with His Father.

Jesus did this a lot … it’s the sure way of hearing the voice of God.

A Seminarian once pointed out in his Vocation Talk that God didn’t come to him

    in a Burning Bush or in a Bolt of Lightening or in a Parting of the Waters!

No, God spoke to him in a small whisper to his spirit.

Now we’ll never hear that whisper ... unless we turn off ... the surrounding noise.

If you’re a person who can’t drive your car without the radio on, or

can’t be at home without the stereo or the TV on, or

can’t go for a walk or a run without being wired up to your MP3 player, or

can’t sit down for a moment without playing a video game, or

can’t go to bed without checking Facebook and E-mails

then it’s unlikely that you going to hear God!

How interesting … that many have time to do all that stuff …

                                                                   but then don’t have time to pray!

You know, we typically do the things that are important to us.

and if we’re not fitting prayer into our daily routine

then we’re not seeing it as important.

Is Prayer important?   Well, Jesus certainly thought so ... and He’s our model.

Prayer is conversation ... with God!     It’s speaking to and listening to ... God!

Knowing this should make it pretty important.    For indeed it is!

God delights in speaking to us.

And what do you think God is trying to tell us?

I believe He definitely wants us to hear the very words Jesus spoke to the Apostles

when He walked out on the water that night and found them frightened in the storm.

What did He say to them?    He said, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Are you afraid? There’s a lot of things that can make us fearful: the pandemic,  the stock market, our health, the safety of our family, the stability of our work, our bills, our sins.  There are many things that can unsettle us & so each of us needs to hear regularly & often the comforting voice of the Lord tell us, “Do not be afraid.”

Fear can make us doubt ourselves … it can even make us doubt God.

Which is why Jesus always acts to dispel fear.

Today, when the terrified Apostles think they are seeing a ghost,

Jesus immediately calms them saying, “Do not be afraid.”

Jesus came to them in the storm ... and He wants to be in the boat with us …

as we sail the stormy seas of this life …

So He wants us to look to Him and not be frightened.

He wants us to hear His words of comfort & assurance.

Today He beckoned Peter to come to him. And initially Peter did real good … but as he felt the strong winds around him he became frightened and he began to doubt … and he physically began to sink!

What happened?   Fear got in the way of faith!

Fear is the enemy of faith.       Fear scatters peace and brings in doubt.

After Jesus rescued Peter He reprimanded him and all of us by asking,

“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

It’s as if Jesus was asking,

“Did you think I would ask you to come to me and then let you sink and drown?”

“Did you think I would ask you to do something and not give you the power to do it?”

God doesn’t set us up for failure. He would never call us to a particular vocation or  task in life if He wasn’t going to give us every grace necessary to stay afloat.

Do you believe that?    That’s where our faith in Jesus comes in!

Remember, we can experience fears in life ... and fear is the enemy of faith!

That’s why we need to hear the comforting voice of Jesus dispelling our fears.

We absolutely need to hear His call, His reassurance, and His encouragement.

Now do you think that the devil wants us to hear the voice of Jesus?

No way!      And that’s why there’s so much noise in the world!

Noise keeps us from hearing the still small whisper of God.

Where is the noise coming from?

The Media: 24 x 7 programming … 100’s of channels,

67 TV’s in Buffalo Wild Wings!

Multiple TV’s on the walls in many restaurants and gyms.

Movie and Video Game Entertainment:

Youth and Professional Sports: real time and On-line Sports center scores!

Always on Business and Market standings ...

Smart phones: you’re never off line! Thousands of Text msgs per month!

Busyness: email and Facebook and Endless things to do.

All of this noise serves to override and drown out the still small whisper of God.

The day Sunday, used to be sacred with peace and quiet is now just another day.

So, where will we get to hear God … only in Prayer … only in quiet prayer.

And one place you’re assured of finding peace and quiet is in Church!

It’s there that you’ll be able to  hear God’s guidance and encouragement.

it used to be quite common for people to do this regularly by stopping into their local Church during the day to pray.    It was called, “making a visit.”

Well, you can do the same thing every day right here at Holy Spirit Church.

For any reason and for no reason, you can come here and pray in your church.

Come in and bask in the true presence of Our Lord who is always here.

Come sit in the silence!

This Church is open from 6:30 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon ...

come and pray before Our Lord in the tabernacle.

Stay as long as you like and come as often as you want.

He’s here ... in the quiet of His house! 

Take time to pray in Church or in the quiet Prayer Place in your Home ...

it’s the most effective way to hear His whispering voice.

Please turn off the noise … for at least part of every day …

and listen for the whisper of God.

And allow some time for Him to speak to you ... more than 10 minutes!

You know, if you decided to run on the treadmill because you wanted to lose weight and, you ran for just 10 minutes, all you burned up was the sugar in your lunch;  you didn’t burn up any fat! Scientists tell us that you have to be exerting yourself for more than 10 minutes for the body to recognize that this is going to go on for a while and begin to burn fat. It’s only after 10 minutes that you’re accomplishing your goal and starting to lose weight.

Similarly if your desire is to hear God in prayer, it’s only after you’ve been in prayer for a good 10 minutes of peace and quiet that your spirit enters the stillness where you can hear the promptings of God in your heart.  

God doesn’t want you to sink in the storms of life.  

He loves you very much and He wants you to stay afloat.

Turn down the noise that surrounds you ...

so that you can carry on a conversation … with God!

Make a point to meet Him regularly and often ... in quiet prayer.

That’s when you’ll get to hear the quiet whisper of his voice telling you:

       “Take courage … it is I ... do not be afraid!”