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Until the early 1980’s, the city of Pittsburgh had numerous steel mills which hammered out the city’s signature product day and night. The people near them got so used to the constant pounding that they slept through it. In fact, it lulled them to sleep. But one night an accident shut down one of the major mills. The pounding noise of production and business stopped. Guess what happened when there was nothing but silence? Everyone woke up!
Something like that needs to happen in our lives. We are surround by such noise and distraction that we have become like sleepwalkers, always in motion but not fully aware and alert. Such a state can be very dangerous! A recent estimate indicated the average American is exposed to anywhere from 6-10 thousand ads a day. Most prominent are the never-ending ads online and on social media; the scores of pop-ups and junk emails that are customized to our browsing history and previous purchases. There are still numerous ads and invitations on billboards and in print, on the sides of packages and even on clothing, in magazines and newspapers. The more passive and sleepy we are, the greater the ad’s impact. A couch potato or web surfer has little sales resistance to the impulse buy.
As we begin Advent, Jesus is telling us to wake up. In today’s Gospel he invites people to get ready for the Second Coming. However, he does not warn them first about grave sins against the commandments, but rather about being too busy. He reminds them how, before the Flood, those that perished “were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark." Those are normal, necessary, even praiseworthy activities - but they lulled people to sleep, a fatal sleep that rendered them unprepared when the flood came.
For most Americans December is the busiest month of the year. That busy-ness creates a dread which advertisers exploit. How often are we tempted to buy this one thing to give us more time, make our lives easier, or bring the calm and peace we desire? Why not go ahead and indulge, treat yourself, and then you will be happy?! So many products and services compete for our attention and money in a relentless cycle that is exhausting.
Surrounded as we are by soul-numbing noise and distraction and busyness, there is only one thing which can pull us back to life - the same thing which woke up the people of Pittsburgh: silence. Genuine silence can profoundly turn our life around and it was a key player in one of the most pivotal moments of my life.
One of the most common things people ask me is how I received the call to become a priest. I can sum it up in one word: silence. I went on a weekend retreat with some high school friends during my freshman year. It was actually the final evening of the retreat and we were watching a movie together before driving back to St. Louis the next morning. During that movie, I felt something stirring inside, telling me to go to the chapel, to sit with God alone for a few moments. In that chapel, surrounded in silence by the presence of God, I heard his voice in my heart simply saying, “feed my sheep” and to do so as a priest. In the silence that call could be heard loud and clear. It was not something I heard with my ears but knew without a doubt in my heart. I have had my good days and bad days, my lazy days and crazy days, but I have always known this is what God wants me to do with my life. For me it began in a moment of profound silence and I go back to that encounter often for encouragement and comfort. Silence provided the space for God speak to me one-on-one, with nothing and no-one else between us.
Another man received his calling while alone, this time in a garden rather than a chapel. He was attracted to God, but always held back. For example, he famously prayed, “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet” because he enjoyed his sins so much, even as he knew, deep down, he was made for much more than passing pleasures. Then, in a moment of silence, Augustine heard a voice which said, Tolle et legge (take and read). At first he thought it was a child calling out in the garden and tried to tried to remember what children’s game had those words, take and read. But when he realized he was completely alone, he opened the Bible and fell on the verse we heard in today's second reading: "Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”
When he read those words he made a complete turnaround. Without reserve he dedicated his life to God, by following his law and explaining it to others. He became one of the most influential teachers the Church has ever known. St. Augustine continues to inspire many to this day and he enjoys eternal happiness with God in heaven. The catalyst for his greatness and his conversion began with the gift of God’s grace, which finally broke through his resistance, in silence.
This Advent we recognize our time is short, that the moment to wake up has arrived. Now is the time to seek out a place of true silence to rouse our sleepy hearts and hear what God has been trying to say. Do not be afraid to enter the silence and to sit there for awhile, as awkward as it may feel. God has a personal message for you, an invitation, a word of hope, healing, and encouragement. May we give highest priority to making time and space for this sacred silence, knowing that it will lead to our highest happiness and reveal our role in God’s saving plan for the world!
