Silence in Eucharistic Adoration

(This is a short talk I gave this evening in St. Peter's Parish in Clayton)

An American tourist hired a driver in Italy to show her the country. On the first afternoon out, the driver began to identify some of the antiquities and she said arrogantly, “I hired you to drive for me, not to talk to me.”

The driver remained quiet for the rest of the week. When he presented his bill, there was one item the lady did not understand.

“That’s for keeping quiet,” the driver said. “I don’t like doing it, but when I do, Signora, I have to charge.”

Like the Italian driver in the story we sometimes find it hard to remain quiet. Sometimes we find silence a frightening and uncomfortable experience. So we turn the radio on or make a telephone call just to break the silence.

But like Jesus who went up to the mountains and desolate places to be alone in prayer, we also need to distance ourselves from the distractions of the world and our noisy cultures. Jesus teaches us that constant prayer, reflection and silence are vital for our spiritual growth as Christians.

I am going to talk about the importance of silence in Eucharistic Adoration. Silence and contemplation are our response to this mind-blowing reality of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. Don’t you know that we also receive payment, like the Italian driver, just for being quiet before the Blessed Sacrament?

Sense of Presence

First silence allows us to have a sense of the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. When we are quiet and still our attention to God becomes greater and much more focused than if we are thinking of other things.

Yesterday I went to St. Francis’ Church in the city to pray and to ask for guidance about what I would say tonight. As I knelt down looking at the Blessed Sacrament on the altar I said to Jesus, “Lord please tell me what it means to have a sense of your presence if I remain quiet.” So I tried to concentrate in silence as much as I could and I started to realise that Jesus’ body, blood, soul and divinity were really there inside the monstrance.

I felt so relieved but not for long. There was this young Asian lady sitting not far from me who started to talk to her friend on the phone. She said, “Oh, I am here inside St. Francis Church…don’t worry it’s alright...hey how are you…no, it’s alright.” I talked to her in my mind, “It’s alright for you to speak to your friend inside the Church. But it’s not ok for us! Can’t you see us praying?”

I completely lost my attention to the Lord because of this girl. Then I realised that God has just taught me the importance of silence to have a sense of his presence.

Intimacy

Secondly our response to God in silence draws us into intimacy with him in contemplation. As we enter into silence before the Blessed Sacrament we intimately enter into a deep relationship with Christ.

Sometimes when we pray we run out of words and we don’t know exactly what to say. It seems that we are just wasting our time and not praying at all. But that is not true! Jesus who is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament is very interested about us even when we sometimes mumble or don’t know what to say.

Intimacy means having a close relationship with the Lord even in silence. I think this is very true even in our human relationships. When we know someone intimately, for example, our own mother, we can instantly judge her feelings simply by looking at her eyes or listening to the sound of her voice.

Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. St. John Marie Vianney described his prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in a very simple words, he said, “I look at him and he looks at me.”

Listening

Spending time in silence before the Blessed Sacrament enables us to listen or hear more clearly the voice of God who is mysteriously working in our lives. We often hear the saying “God speaks in silence.” I think the great challenge for all of us today is to find a peaceful quiet place where we can sit down and listen to God.

Silence is a rare thing in our life. We are surrounded by televisions, radios, cars, fire alarms (especially if you live in the seminary:). Even in the Church, we hear people chatting, mobile phones and other forms of distraction.

But we listen to the voice of God not only in external silence, even though that is very important; God speaks to us more intimately in the silence of our hearts. I remember the homily of a Filipino priest. He said, “to listen deeply is to listen using not our ears but using our hearts.” Very interestingly he explained, “If you cut your two ears and put them together, a heart shaped is formed. In the middle of the word heart is ‘ear’ and the first four letters of the word heart form the word ‘hear.’"

Thus, when we spend time in silence before the Blessed Sacrament, we listen and wait attentively to what God is going to say to us, not through our ears, but really with our hearts.

Emptiness

Silence before the Blessed Sacrament brings us emptiness. But this emptiness is not something negative. Interior silence before the Lord creates more space in our hearts so that his Spirit can fill us up with his love, mercy and healing.

As we enter into contemplation we leave not only the hustle and bustle of the outside world, but we also leave behind our pride, selfishness, lust and complacency, we empty ourselves of all the negative things that blocked up the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So in front of the Blessed Sacrament we let ourselves be like an empty bucket in order that our Lord may graciously pour out the love, mercy and healing we all need.

John the Baptist says it beautifully, “He must increase, but I must decrease." [John 3:30]

Nourishment

We need silence in order to come close to our true selves and to God. The silence of Eucharistic Adoration allows us to meditate on the words of Jesus. “I am the bread of life.” Entering silence helps us to recognise Jesus as the nourishment of our soul. His flesh is our daily food and sustenance. “What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of Christ preserves, increases and renews the life of grace we received at Baptism. Eucharistic Communion is the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death.”

Peter Ferwerda mentioned in his talk yesterday the importance of spending an hour before the Blessed Sacrament no matter how busy we are because God in his mysterious silence can give us fulfillment and satisfy our inner hunger. Spending time before the Blessed Sacrament, in prayer and devotion, is spending time before the living God.

Confidence

The purpose of adoration is to highlight the presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist.

If we really believe that the Jesus is in the Blessed Sacrament, then we can speak to him full of confidence and certainty. If Jesus is really there present, in the fullness of his humanity and divinity, then we can share our joys with him; and we can cry all our tears to him; we abandon our hopes and fears, our worries, family problems, financial difficulties, health problems into his hands.Inasmuch as we believe in the Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament we also trust his invitation: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” [Mt 11:28-30]

Silence in Eucharistic adoration is an act of confidence in God. In front of the Blessed Sacrament, we see ourselves like little children sleeping peacefully within the arms of the Father.

Exaltation

The sign of “silence” in a hospital shields the quiet mysterious knitting up of bodies and nerves. In a library, “silence” whispers of the deep communion of mind with mind, the calm flowering of thought. Silence before the Blessed Sacrament takes us to exaltation or adoration of the Lord. Thus silence does speak of healing, of stillness and of the distilling of wisdom and the wonder of God’s glory.

*******

As you may notice we form the word “SILENCE.” Let us always remember that silence in Eucharistic Adoration gives us “a Sense of presence”, “Intimacy”, “Listening”, “Emptiness”, “Nourishment”, “Confidence” and “Exaltation.”

*******

Prayer to the Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

“O heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, overflowing with gentleness, tenderness and charity. My sweet Lord, Saviour and Spouse let me lay at your sacred feet my daily share of joys, struggles and sorrows, my hopes and fears. And in the stillness of your sanctuary do tenderly gather them into your Sacred Heart. Solace my doubts, calm my fears. And grant that day by day I may become more united to you. Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.”