18/04/2026
Silence is never helplessness!
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At times, there is no weapon sharper or more potent than silence.
From childhood, I was a quarrelsome one...
And because of that, many were wounded by my tongue.
But after I encountered Jesus personally in my twentieth year, my quarrelsome nature softened somewhat.
Though the change was only "slight," to my friends and family, I often seemed a wonder in this regard.
It was while reading the Holy Bible that I first saw my Jesus—standing before Pilate's question, "Who are you?"—offering silence as His reply, though an answer lay ready on His tongue.
That silence was more majestic than all the proclamations He made in His three years of public life.
Perhaps it was even more powerful than the Old Testament self-revelations of "I AM WHO I AM" or "The LORD is My Name forever."
Therefore, silence is not absence; it is an anointing, it is bliss.
The second time I tasted this silence was when I recognized my sins, my falls, my compromises, as sin, and I clung tightly to the Sacrament of Confession. In the Divine Presence that enveloped me, I heard the sound of His silence.
In that experience, I have often broken down and wept.
And later, upon seeing the priest who heard my confession, I find that I cannot even recall the words I confessed or the tears I shed—so completely does that silence fill me.
The third experience is in the Holy Qurbana (Eucharist). There I partake in the celebration of silence.
The altar has helped me enter into the first sacrifice made 2,000 years ago—into the very moments of the crucifixion.
And as I climb Calvary thus, I feel that great silence flowing from the Holy Cross into me.
This language—where night speaks ceaselessly to day and day to night, yet not a sound is heard—is an experience unto itself.
Demons came out of many with loud shrieks, but even John, who rested so close to Jesus' heart, heard no sound from Him.
His silence was a warning to those spirits, a command.
They could not help but obey.
"A silence that compels obedience" was the hallmark of Jesus.
Amidst the cries of "Stone her!", His silence crafted both a saint and a crowd of people who glimpsed the door of repentant self-awareness.
"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her!"
Those five words, born of silence, were more accurate than all the stones they had raised.
Amidst the roars, taunts, and insults of Goliath, David silently picked up five smooth stones—and with just one of them, Goliath fell.
Beloved, let me say it again: Silence is never helplessness.
At times, there is no weapon sharper or more piercing than silence.
Let us make "a silence that compels obedience" our own habit.
Silence is an anointing, it is bliss. Let us claim it.
Jesus,
May Your silence—far more majestic than any proclamation—be revealed in us as an anointing!
Amen.
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