Snow and silence

This past Sunday, I preached about Eucharistic Adoration. Among the benefits of it, peace coming from the silence, stillness, and calmness is at the top of the list. Of course, being in the Real Presence of the Prince of Peace brings a peace that is certainly palpable. Throughout the 11 am Mass, snow was falling beautifully and peacefully. I even made the comment in my homily that God was stressing the point of silence and peace by sending the snow for that Mass and homily. I hope you have enjoyed the white stuff so far this week – the first time in over 700 days that we have had more than an inch of snow!

A parishioner gave me an excellent spiritual book recently, “Winter Meditations” by John Bartunek, LC, SThD. He writes with such great knowledge about nature and the seasons and ties them in wonderfully with spirituality. He writes about silence in the first chapter (excerpt below) and uses snowfall as a primer for the conversation. He even says “is anything as silent as a country landscape after a heavy snowfall?” That sounds like Darnestown right now!

Silence is necessary for hearing. Lovers prefer quiet corners for heart-to-heart exchanges. Amidst the din of a crowd they cannot hear the words they wish to speak to each other. Likewise, for us to hear the words of wisdom and love that the Lord wishes to whisper to us, we need to weave silence into our lives. We all need to make room for silence in our lives. Sometimes, we all need to put on our mittens and earmuffs and venture out into the pure hush of a landscape blanketed in fresh snow. That kind of silence is part of the gift of winter, a gift with surprising, delightful benefits. (pp.15-16).