Dear Friends in Christ

It seems to me that the thread connecting the First Reading and Gospel of the Mass this Sunday is that of silence. God is encountered in the still small voice of calm both by the prophet Elijah and by the Apostles after the storm on the lake. It is interesting that the more we engage in noise and activity, the less the world seems to hear God. All things that are great grow in silence. This is why the Christian soul needs to create silence and then find God within that stillness. As we approach the great celebration of The Assumption of Our Blessed Lady into Heaven this coming Tuesday, Mary can be seen as the personification of this silence which characterises the encounter with God and the mystery of the divine. Speaking in 1995, Pope St John Paul II said: Mary’s example enables the Church better to appreciate the value of silence. Mary’s silence is not only moderation in speech, but it is especially a wise capacity for remembering and embracing in a single gaze of faith the mystery of the Word made man and the events of His earthly life. It is this silence as acceptance of the Word, this ability to meditate on the mystery of Christ, that Mary passes on to believers. In a noisy world filled with messages of all kinds, her witness enables us to appreciate a spiritually rich silence and fosters a contemplative spirit.

Let us look to Mary in this mystery of her Assumption and ask for the gift of inner peace and serenity. The world stands in need of this silence. Without it, this mystery of God will never be encountered and we will never experience the presence of God within ourselves. May this period of holiday and rest be for us the time to experience once more the healing inner peace of God.

With every blessing!

Msgr Kevin Hale

Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
Homily available at LourdesLeigh.org